No More Pussyfooting Around
by Indygodusk
Summary: At the age of 16, Akane became engaged. At 17, she died. But she didn't stay dead. Now she has to become an adult, rescue Ranma from kidnappers, teach sex ed to the unwilling, and fight off vicious demons. Maybe then can she live happily ever after.
1. Violent Maniacs and Candy Sprinkles

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and its characters do not belong to me, they belong to the amazing Rumiko Takahashi.

AN: I'm still alive, yay! Please forgive me and read my new baby. I just need to get this story written, and then I'll hopefully return to RK.

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**No More Pussyfooting Around**: a Ranma ½ fanfic

By Indygodusk

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**Chapter 1: Violent Maniacs and Candy Sprinkles**

At the age of 16, Akane Tendo became engaged to Ranma Saotome. Chaos ensued. At the age of 17, she died.

But she didn't stay dead.

Seconds later (or perhaps minutes, it was hard to count time when one was dead), she'd revived in the arms of her fiancé. Within the month, she'd agreed to marry Ranma, getting him the means to end his curse, and start their happily ever after. However, the wedding was sabotaged. Happily ever after (and curse breaking) was put off.

Time passed.

Nabiki moved away to attend business college, Ukyo franchised and opened a second Okonomiyaki shop, and Shampoo learned how to use pronouns (most of the time).

Nevertheless, girls still wrangled over Ranma, boys still went gaga over Akane, and crazy challengers still popped up in random places. Things had returned to normal in Nerima. Nothing had changed. At least, nothing on the surface.

Inside Akane's soul though, _that_ was a different story.

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As the school bell rang, Akane slowly gathered up her pen and spiral notebook. She took her time closing the cover and sliding everything into her worn but well-loved book bag. Finally she slipped in the book of plays they'd been reading in class and shut the flap.

There were holes and scuffmarks on her bag, and places with clumsy brown stitching where she'd done her best to sew the holes back together. Akane sometimes thought it a miracle that the bag had survived to her senior year. It had gone through four years of school use that included being regularly bashed against thick male heads. Akane loved this bag.

Although her sewing might never be elegant, the bag recorded her steady improvement with a needle and thread. She sometimes walked her fingers around the cloth between the oldest stitching and the newest, recounting the years. The first clumsy knot marked a time before Ranma. It was nice to have evidence that he hadn't always been at the center of her life. Sometimes that was hard to remember.

One large hole had been patched up and stitched to look like a cat. She'd been mad at Ranma that day. Scowling fiercely as she sewed, she had wanted to capitalize on his fear of cats by making him leave her alone when he saw her bag.

Of course, he had strolled up a minute later and mockingly asked if that was supposed to be a chicken. Couldn't the idiot tell the difference between wings and ears? That plan had failed utterly.

Now, every time she saw her cat patch it made her think of Ranma. In particular, it made her think of his softly affectionate kiss while under the influence of the cat-fist. Sure, he had thought himself a cat at the time; the kiss couldn't mean anything because he didn't even remember it. But Akane remembered. When she wasn't angry at him for being a jerk and driving her crazy, she sometimes wondered what it would be like to kiss him again, but this time as a man instead of as a cat.

Seeing another student still talking to the teacher, Akane stood up and leaned against a desk in the front row by the windows. She held a few old papers and assignments in her hand, each bearing an 'A' circled in red. Unlike most of the other martial artists she knew, Akane excelled at school. Literature class was a pleasure, not a chore to be slept though like some snoring pigtailed male who shall remain nameless.

Looking out the open window, Akane noticed several couples strolling out the gates. She felt a smirk blossom when she saw Yuka prance out holding the arm of her seventh period crush. Something interesting had happened since Akane had last talked to her at lunch. She'd have to get the details later.

Behind Yuka strolled Miaka and the captain of the soccer team. They'd been an item for years. Akane felt her smile dim. Miaka had been a good friend all through junior high. Her family owned a shrine, so the two girls had bonded early over the pressure to follow in their family's footsteps. Both had their futures mapped out for them by traditional parents.

But once Miaka discovered boys, and Akane learned to hate boys courtesy of Kuno, they had drifted apart. There had been several times when Akane had idly wondered what Miaka would say about her situation with Ranma. But too much time had passed and Miaka didn't seem interested in rekindling their friendship. Whenever Akane walked by Miaka's shrine now, it made her a little sad.

As Miaka and her boyfriend disappeared around the corner, Ranma sauntered into view. His gait was smooth and hinted, if you knew what to look for, at power kept very tightly leashed. Even from here, she could feel the charisma that drew so many people into his orbit. Black hair, highlighted reddish-brown in the sun, fluttered around his face. Leaning back against a tree, he crossed his arms behind his head as if settling in to wait for someone. Several boys walking by called out to him, but Ranma just smiled and waved the knot of students on. He looked isolated and almost lonely, a still pebble in the streams of scattering students. Akane sighed, wishing she knew what Ranma was thinking about as he pensively gazed towards the front doors of the school.

A sudden gust of wind swirled through the classroom, stealing the papers from Akane's lax fingers. One spirited out the window while the others scattered across the floor. Exclaiming in surprise, Akane bent over and quickly gathered them back up into a messy pile. Stuffing them safe into her bag, she went to the open window and saw her missing midterm caught between a bush and the wall outside the teacher's lounge one floor down.

"You had a question, Ms. Tendo?" asked Yamada-Sensei from his position by the door. Akane would have to retrieve the paper after her conversation with the teacher. He seemed eager to leave, and his face looked pale and slightly sweaty.

Surreptitiously wiping off hands dusty from scrabbling on the floor for papers, Akane stepped up to the teacher. "Yes Sir, I was hoping to ask you for a favor."

Yamada-Sensei clutched his briefcase to his chest with trembling fingers. "What kind of favor?" he asked shakily.

_The poor man must be worn out from a day of teaching,_ Akane thought. _I'll have to make this brief._ "I was hoping you would write me a letter of recommendation. It's for-"

"What?" Yamada-Sensei blurted out, interrupting her. He sounded almost incredulous, _but that couldn't be right_, she thought. Akane opened her mouth to explain, but he cut her off again. "No, no, I see, and I'm sorry, but I just can't…" he paused to pull out a handkerchief and wipe his sweating face. "Despite your good grades you've missed too many classes. I'm sorry, but you'll have to ask someone else," and with that, he scurried out of the classroom.

Bewildered, Akane could only stare after his rapidly retreating form. _What had just happened?_ She was getting a 93% in this class and had only missed a few classes due to challenges involving Ranma or kidnapping attempts. Plus, since Ranma wasn't in this class with her, she'd never even gotten sent into the hall to hold buckets. She was a good student! Akane just didn't understand.

Shaking her head, she sighed and went to retrieve her paper from outside. As she walked, she tried to figure out whom else she could ask. Ms. Hinako was definitely out. Akane had heard horror stories of letters written with crayon and sparkly stickers sent to admissions boards.

As she came around the side of the building, Akane looked towards the tree by the front gate. No one was there anymore. Ignoring the way her stomach dropped, she made her way around the side of the building.

Examining the tightly planted bushes, several of which were trimmed to resemble very ugly pineapples, Akane realized that reaching her paper wasn't going to be easy. She could clearly see it fluttering around on a branch. To get to it, though, she was going to have to crawl between two bushes. It would be a tight fit. Annoyed, Akane blew her bangs out of her eyes.

Hopefully no one would see her. It would look weird to be crawling around in a skirt beneath the open windows of the teacher's lounge. Putting down her bag, Akane got down on her hands and knees and started wiggling through.

Stretching, she managed to barely put two fingernails on the edge of the paper. As she gently scraped it closer, Akane vaguely noticed voices getting louder above her head. Another gust of wind blew by, ruffling her skirt and wafting the paper right into her face.

_Success!_ Akane thought happily. She stuffed the paper in a pocket. Ready to escape the needles prickling her scalp, she started undulating carefully backwards. Then she heard her name drifting down from the open window and paused to listen.

"Akane Tendo isn't that bad, Yamada-san" a man's voice said soothingly.

"Are you kidding me? When she cornered me in class a few minutes ago, I feared for my life! What did she expect me to write on her letter, that she's only a violent hoodlum _half_ of the time?" a voice she recognized hollowly as Yamada-Sensei exclaimed. "Haven't you been watching her these last few years? Whenever she's startled, annoyed, or angry - in short, whenever things don't go her way - she starts hitting people and throwing things."

Akane gasped in hurt shock, but the teachers didn't hear her.

"Well," the other man responded, "she does have a temper, but usually she only hits Saotome or boys who try to ask her out. I don't think she'd actually hit a teacher or anyone else."

Yamada-Sensei snorted. "That's what we tell ourselves now, but mark my words - she's just going to get worse. Ten years from now her kids will be showing up to school with black eyes and covered in bruises, claiming that they fell down the stairs. She's a violent maniac!" His voice got hysterically louder as he talked, and Akane had to place a dirt-stained hand over her own mouth to keep herself silent.

The other man made soothing sounds, but Akane didn't want to hear any more. She wrenched herself out of the bushes as quickly, yet silently, as possible. Stuffing her midterm into her bag, she heard Yamada-Sensei wearily say, "I never wanted her in my class. I just hope I survive until the end of the semester."

Shaky hands fumbled several times until she finally succeeded in securing the straps shut on her bag. She needed to get away somewhere private before she started to cry. Blinking rapidly, she put her head down and strode quickly out the gate.

Only a few steps later, she saw someone from the corner of her eye pop up by her side. "Oi Tomboy, what took you so long?" Ranma demanded as he matched her fast pace. "Akane…?" he hesitantly repeated when she didn't respond.

Keeping her face slanted away, Akane swallowed and tried to answer normally. "I had to pick up something. You didn't have to wait." She just wanted to escape so she could break down by herself.

_Now Ranma will say something stupid and I'll have an excuse to punch him so he'll go away_, Akane thought. A second later, she felt a clammy shudder ripple down her spine. That was just the kind of behavior Yamada-Sensei had accused her of. Maybe she was a violent maniac who would end up abusing her children.

"What's wrong?" Ranma asked. "Did someone accidentally eat your cooking and die or something?"

Suppressing her first instinct to slap him across the face, Akane lowered her hand and walked around his braced body. "Just leave me alone, you jerk," she growled. Despite her best efforts, a sobbing breath escaped her mouth.

Surprised, Ranma stood frozen, staring after her misery-hunched body. Then he sprinted back up to her. "H- hey," Ranma stuttered, peering up under the fall of her hair to see her eyes, "did something really happen?"

Placing his hand on her arm, he gently pulled her to a stop. For some reason, she couldn't find the energy to resist. His hand felt hot on her chilled skin. The warmth was compelling, urging her to trust in him.

"Akane," his voice became very intent, "did Shampoo try to drug you again? Or did someone challenge you?"

Swiping her free hand across her moist eyes, she took a deep breath. "No," her voice wobbled out. Taking another breath, she raised her face. It took effort, but she made herself meet his concerned azure gaze. "No, I'm fine. No one did anything." She thought about faking a smile, but didn't think he'd believe it.

"Akane…" he sounded slightly lost as he searched her eyes. Bringing his hand up, he ran his fingers slowly through her hair. She could feel the drag of his fingertips along her scalp. Tingles flowed across her skin, and she had to repress the urge to close her eyes. Calloused fingers tucked several strands tenderly behind her ear before he took a step back and released her arm caressingly.

Ranma's neck bobbed as he swallowed once, before speaking gently. "You have pine needles in your hair. What have you been up to?"

Soothed, Akane managed to produce a small yet genuine smile. Nevertheless, she simply shook her head and slowly began walking again. Ranma matched her step for step.

They walked for a few minutes in companionable silence. "I know," Ranma teased, "you finally carried out your threat to save the eyesight of the student body by cutting down those hideous, pineapple-shaped bushes of Principle Kuno's."

"Hah," Akane replied with a bit of her usual vigor. "That was your threat, not mine."

Ignoring her, Ranma continued, "After defending the eyes of your fellow students, you found yourself famished. Yet your wallet was empty because you gave your last yen to a monk who resembled a small furry chihuahua. Starving and wandering the grounds of Furinkan, you found yourself desolate. If only you'd kept a few yen for yourself!"

A giggle escaped Akane. Surprised, she touched her lips wonderingly. Ranma was too caught up in his story to notice. Bouncing around her as she walked, he was reenacting his version of recent history.

First, Ranma grimaced and covered his eyes in horror before pulling out an invisible pair of shears and chopping away. Then he rubbed his belly and groaned pitifully. Sending her a sideways glance, he then performed his impression of a chihuahua-like monk collecting money. Finally, he collapsed on the ground at her feet, the picture of a desolate hero.

Staring down at him, Akane felt warmth spreading through her heart. "You," she pronounced, "are ridiculous."

Jumping to his feet, Ranma walked backwards so he could keep facing her as they talked. "Ah ah, you shouldn't say that to the person with money in his wallet." He then proceeded to pull out a yen note and wave it in her face, "money that could be used to rescue the hero of Furinkan from starvation by buying her an ice cream." Tilting his head to the side appealingly, he smiled. "Whadda ya say?"

"Well," Akane answered hesitantly. She had wanted to retreat somewhere to lick her wounds in private. But it was hot today, and something sweet right now sounded nice. Besides, that hopeful smile was hard to resist.

Sensing her wavering, Ranma leaned forward and offered persuasively, "You could get two scoops, one with peppermint and one with cookies and cream. I'll even get them to add whipped cream and sprinkles. You know you love sprinkles."

She did. She really, really did. "All right," she gave in. Besides, this would give her a chance to practice her self-control, she told herself. "But if you're lying to me about the sprinkles, you'll be dead to me. Clear?"

"Crystal," he answered with a satisfied grin. Then he scooped her up and started jumping across the roofs towards downtown.

"Ranma," Akane shrieked in surprise, "put me down!" He only responded with a laugh as he pulled her closer against his body and continued roof hopping.

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Stay tuned for chapter 2, when Ranma and Akane leave on a trip. Alone. Together! The catfist will also be featured at some point, because it is too much fun to leave out.

Please review and tell me what you thought! Also point out any grammar errors or mistakes. Thank you!


	2. Mistaken Identities and Mathematics

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and its characters belong to the fabulous Rumiko Takahashi.

AN: Thanks for the great reviews and helpful suggestions! I love that some of you stood up for Akane and pointed out mistakes. Please also keep in mind that there is biased narration throughout the story.

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**No More Pussyfooting Around**: a Ranma ½ fanfic

By Indygodusk

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**Chapter 2: Mistaken Identities and Mathematics**

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_Translations:_

_Airen – (Chinese) spouse or husband _

_Wo ai ni – (Chinese) I love you_

_Neko – (Japanese) cat_

_Ranko- Ranma in cursed female form_

_Sensei – (Japanese) teacher_

_Furo – (Japanese) large bath tub for soaking_

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Over the next several weeks, Akane's resolve to control her temper was severely tested. Just yesterday, she'd gotten in a stupid argument with Ranma where he'd called her uncute, with legs like soggy corndogs. _Darn the school fair for giving him new ideas for insults! _she thought, shaking her fist at the sky.

Instead of flattening him like she'd wanted to, she'd merely pulled down her eyelid and stuck out her tongue. She'd already hit him that morning for abusing poor P-chan, so her quota for the day was used up. Then she'd stomped off and broken several stacks of wooden boards. They weren't as durable as bricks, but they were more useful for home repair, especially when she stacked the broken pieces by size for later use.

After nearly dying, nearly getting married, and nearly becoming destitute once she had to personally pay for repairs (after Nabiki left for college) when her temper tantrums damaged the house and dojo, Akane had come to some hard realizations. If only to herself, Akane admitted that she needed to grow up. She needed to learn to think things through instead of just reacting all of the time.

In martial arts, you trained yourself to stop thinking, to reach the point where you reacted automatically when someone attacked you. When scissor-kicked, you didn't have time to decide upon the most appropriate block and counterstrike. You just did it. But once a warrior has reached that level, they have to learn to start thinking through the reactions, to strategize several moves ahead so that they control the flow of the battle and achieve victory.

Akane knew that. In fights, she _did_ that. Except somehow, when Ranma or the other fiancées were involved, she didn't. When she got mad, or jealous, or flustered, her intellect went _poof_ and she just reacted. Usually something got hit or destroyed. Other times she got herself into trouble. But often, the object of her fist, mallet, or backpack was Ranma.

Most of the time he deserved it for being a jerk… but not always. A couple of times, she'd caught herself staring at a swirly-eyed Ranma and realizing that he hadn't deserved it. That _she_ was in the wrong. She'd started to see that sometimes, perhaps, just maybe, she'd misunderstood a situation.

Plus, after hearing that Yamada-Sensei at school thought she was a violent maniac, Akane realized that people she respected were judging her negatively. Maybe such behavior was normal among the Nerima wrecking crew, but it wasn't in the outside world. After all, people wouldn't want themselves or their children taught martial arts by a violent maniac. It wasn't a nice realization, but she'd swallowed it. And she'd tried to start thinking for a few more seconds before reacting. It was one of the most difficult things she'd ever done.

On her pathway to becoming an adult, Akane had started teaching several classes in the dojo. Currently she was covering a children's class for beginners and a self-defense course for office ladies. She also helped Dr. Tofu out around his clinic a couple of times a week. Thankfully, her fierce crush on him had faded into the warm glow of admiration. Working earned her a little extra cash to help repair the house, buy an ice cream, and build her college fund.

Smiling goodbye to her last student, Akane cleaned up the dojo. She was looking forward to a hot soak in the furo. The students had been practicing how to escape from a rapist. It had involved escaping from a grapple and throwing the "rapist," their teacher Akane, to the ground. Despite her best efforts and a mat, her back and arms were mottled with bruises.

Firmly closing the bathroom door, Akane disrobed and grabbed a towel. First she went into the next room and turned the temperature up in the furo. Then she rinsed off the sweat from teaching. Steam slowly filled the room. After washing her hair, she wrung out the excess moisture. Refreshed, Akane bent over and flipped her hair above her head. Then she grabbed the towel and put it over her hair. As she started twisting the fabric and hair together to secure it above her head for the bath, she heard a small squeak.

Unfortunately, she ignored it.

Seconds later, hands reached out and grabbed Akane. She yelped and struggled, but she couldn't escape. Towel-blinded, she was unable to identify her unnaturally strong opponent. The attacker, who she realized was naked and female, wound around Akane's body tightly like an amorous octopus.

"Wo ai ni," a feminine voice whispered.

Akane felt a volcano go off inside her head.

In the dim and steamy room, that stupid bimbo Shampoo had somehow thought that a naked Akane with her face covered by a towel was really a female Ranma.

Before Akane could clarify the situation, it got worse. Shampoo grabbed Akane's butt firmly with one hand, keeping her arms trapped with the other, and flung them into the steaming water of the furo. Shrieking loudly, it took Akane several more precious moments to get a hand free.

Of course, Shampoo didn't seem phased by the screaming at all. However, she did seem put out that Ranma had retained breasts. "Did Airen make Great-grandmother mad again? Is that why you no change to man in hot water? I can get cure to make you man again if you nice to Shampoo." After this pronouncement, she wiggled. "When you man again, you come visit me and…" as Shampoo continued whispering in her fake high-pitched voice all the things they'd do, Akane had to swallow back bile.

_Ugh!_ Hands finally free, Akane ripped the towel off her head. Then she reared back and whipped Shampoo across the face with it. A loud _smack_ echoed through the room.

Shock was quickly replaced by murderous rage as Shampoo realized the identity of her attacker. "You dare," the amazon breathed lowly, all traces of the coquette disappearing as she fingered her reddened cheek. "Maybe time to kiss you and kill obstacle once and for all."

"Just try it," Akane replied through clenched teeth.

At that moment, Ranma responded to Akane's screams by bursting in through the shoji. "Akane! Aka-," his voice choked off as he took in the tableau.

The two of them knelt in the furo, naked and glistening, with one of Shampoo's arms still resting, forgotten, low on Akane's anatomy beneath the water. Shampoo's lips were also obviously pursed in preparation for a kiss. The thought of what they must look like momentarily paralyzed Akane with mortification.

Blue eyes becoming wide as saucers, Ranma turned into a stuttering idiot. "I-I-I …scream? And uh skin and hands and um, uh, guh…," then a plaintive, "Akane?" Staggering, Ranma let out a slightly hysterical laugh as he slipped on the wet ground and landed hard on his butt. From the fixed gaze and blood starting to seep out of his nose, he didn't seem to have noticed his fall.

From the corner of her eye, Akane noticed Shampoo's face turn crafty. The evil glare disappeared and a sultry smile replaced it.

"Ranma want to join Shampoo and Violent-Girl in bath?" The coquettish voice had returned. "Can help scrub back… and other things." Keeping her sultry gaze fixed on Ranma, she suddenly pulled Akane up against her body, again trapping one of Akane's arms.

"Eeeee!" Akane shrieked, breaking out of her shock and trying to push the unnaturally strong amazon away with one hand.

Suddenly Ranma's eyes sharpened, bemusement replaced with something… dangerous.

Akane saw Ranma start to move, perhaps even heard him snarl? But she was too caught up to wait and see what he was going to do. Elbowing Shampoo hard in the side, she tried to grab the amazon's arm to fling her away. However, Shampoo twisted and pulled her slick arm out of Akane's grasp. Akane's hand shot back and accidentally boxed Ranma in the ear.

Shaking it off, Ranma latched onto the arms Shampoo had wrapped around Akane's waist. Shampoo giggled and tightened her grip, "Airen play, yes?" Resisting his tugs forced Ranma to grapple with Shampoo more closely, which was just what that hussy wanted. Akane could have been a post for all that the purple-haired tramp cared.

As Ranma struggled to pry Shampoo's arms off of Akane's hips, his calloused hands slipped, rubbed, and dragged along Akane's slick skin. In the chaos of the moment, it wasn't a detail she should have noticed so clearly. The contrasting coolness of his skin against her heated flesh should definitely not have felt so significant.

Growling, Akane struggled harder to get away. In her anger, she began to suspect that Ranma was enjoying himself. _He's probably not even trying to help me,_ she fumed. _Pervert_!

Eventually Ranma got one of Shampoo's hands loose, releasing Akane's other arm. It gave her enough slack to knock the other woman away and back against the side of the tub. A wave of water splashed onto the floor.

Finally free to manuver, Akane let out a roar and attacked in earnest. Since Ranma was still mostly dry, she knew her hands wouldn't slip on his body. Taking a firm grip on his arm, Akane spun him up into the air. Shampoo, now firmly glued to his body, as expected, flew up with him. Akane then flung both of them through the wall and out into the koi pond with a shout.

Moments later, a coughing red-headed girl and a small cat climbed out. "Meow," Shampoo's cat form said cutely, rubbing up against the girl's side. Perhaps she thought that this time Ranma would react differently… despite two plus years of experience.

"Yeaaghhh!" responded Ranko, shrieking in fear as she took off running.

"Idiots," Akane seethed as she grabbed a towel and retreated to the outer room to get dressed. _Why wouldn't that bimbo just give up?_ You would think that Shampoo would realize after all this time that ambushing him at home would not make Ranma marry her. Then again, you'd also think she'd figure out that Ranma's fear of cats was not going to go away just because she tried to meow cutely.

Once again, Akane was grateful that her father wasn't as stupid as Genma. Imagine strapping sausages to a child's body and throwing him into a pit of cats… repeatedly! Sure, the catfist was a powerful ki manipulation technique. But did it really matter if the user could only perform it when fear drove him so mad that he snapped and started to think that he was a cat himself? Especially when, if he was lucky enough to find a way to mentally change back to human, he forgot how to use it and what had happened when he did.

_Like when he kissed her, the only time she'd felt and tasted the softness of his lips._ Scowling, Akane put a brake on her thoughts. Fully dressed, she retreated to her room to lift weights and do her math homework.

With Nabiki away at college, Akane had realized that she didn't know as much about finances as she thought she did. Almost getting married made her take a serious look at her future. Math had taken on a new priority in her life. She was supposed to be taking over the dojo and most of the teaching from father in a few years.

Yet what did she know about running a business? Of tax forms and tuition, of insurance and fees? Almost nothing. She knew Nabiki would help her out, still helped them out by doing the paperwork and sending money home regularly to supplement Daddy's earnings, but Akane should know how to do those things herself. She couldn't expect her husband to necessarily do it for her either.

Especially if that husband was Ranma.

Looking out her window, Akane saw Ranko-neko crouched on a high tree branch in the yard licking her hands and rubbing them over her face. Akane blushed and scowled. Well, she wasn't about to drop everything to lug a hot teakettle up the tree to snap Ranko out of it. She had homework to finish. Plus she was still sort of mad at him for being a pervert. Though he was trying to help her out. Probably. _Oh fine,_ she conceded mentally, _just one more math problem, and then I'll go and fix him._

She'd swear that he barely paid any attention in school. Since he'd been wandering around training for most of his life, she doubted he'd ever even had insurance. And if he actually knew what a tax bracket was or how to calculate exemptions, she'd kiss Kuno.

As her fiancée, Ranma was supposed to be her future husband. Deep in her heart, she thought that she might even want him to be. After getting back from Jusendo, she'd thought that things would become more settled between them. That the other fiancées would finally back off.

But then there was the almost wedding, and he'd denied that he'd really said that he loved her. She would swear that she heard him say it, swear it on her mother's grave. But in the face of his denial, what could she do? Akane Tendo would never beg for a man's love.

People had backed off for a few weeks after almost destroying her house, but then everything had gone right back to the way it was before. Her father's words about resolving their lingering relationships seemed to have fallen on deaf ears. Ranma hadn't gotten rid of anyone. And despite her best efforts, she could not get Ranma to talk about his feelings or the fiancée situation. At all.

Despite the fact that all of her romantic aspirations seemed to have stalled, their friendship was deeper and stronger than ever. If she could just forget that he was gorgeous, and her fiancé, and that she was sort of in love with him when he wasn't being a hateful jerk and making her insane, she would be content. Right now she could honestly say that Ranma was the best friend she'd ever had.

Sighing, Akane put down her pencil. She should go and get that hot water. How she'd reach him at the top of the tree was a separate problem she'd tackle when she got there. _Maybe I'll get lucky and he'll come down on his own, _she thought.

Akane had only taken a couple of steps when she heard a thump at her window. Turning around, she saw Ranko pressed against the window. The redhead's nose smooched flat against the glass as she somehow balanced on the windowsill.

"Meow?" reverberated through the glass.

Chuckling, Akane strode over and opened the window. "Come on in, you troublemaker."

Ranko jumped down into the room and rubbed against Akane's legs, purring. Giving the girl-who-currently-thought-she-was-a-cat a gentle smile, Akane ran her fingers through her fiery bangs. "Let's go get you some hot water. I'm sure you're ready to be a human again."

* * *

The next morning, Akane was pleased to see that Shampoo had chosen to leave them alone for the day. Ranma was also acting twitchy and very polite, seeming to expect at any moment more punishment for his actions the day before. He still wasn't used to Akane attempting to control her temper. Perhaps it was petty, but seeing him so jumpy amused Akane. Her good mood continued through pre-calculus, a class she didn't share with Ranma. He was stuck in geometry. On her way out, the teacher asked her to stay behind.

As the other students packed up, she saw Miaka speaking heatedly with her boyfriend in the corner. Akane couldn't hear what was said, but considering the way he was ignoring her to check out Shiori's backside as she bent over to get her pen, things weren't going well. Finally, with a look of despair, Miaka gave up and stalked out.

For a brief second, Akane's heart ached. She wanted to follow Miaka out to make sure she was okay. The girl looked like she needed a friend right now.

But then the moment passed as she heard Morimoto-Sensei speak, "Tendo-san?"

Akane turned to him with a quizzical smile. "Yes, Sensei?"

Pushing his glasses up his nose, he returned her smile kindly, accentuating the wrinkles around his eyes and mouth. "First, I wanted to say that I've noticed how hard you've been working in my class. I appreciate how you help out those around you to understand the problems on the board. You have always been a credit to your class and this school, and I'm not the only teacher to think so."

Akane blushed, unsure how to respond to this praise. Obviously he hadn't been talking to Yamada-Sensei.

Morimoto-Sensei continued, "Secondly, I heard that you were looking for a letter of recommendation."

Akane stopped breathing for a moment. So he had heard Yamada-Sensei's story.

"If you are still looking, I was wondering if I could have the honor of writing you one," he continued.

She felt her face go white, then red. "I- I was, but, well, I… decided not to bother." She didn't know quite how to say she'd been too embarrassed to ask another teacher after Yamada-Sensei's reaction.

"Please, Tendo-san," a determined look appeared on his face. "Many students look up to you as a guiding light at this school. With your grades, athletics, and leadership-potential, any college should be proud to accept you. As a teacher, it is my duty to help students ascend to their next stage in life. Besides, anyone who could get Saotome to finally understand polynomials deserves a medal." Akane rolled her eyes and chuckled as she remembered that battle of wills.

"If I can help your growth be exponential instead of just arithmetic…" he paused and sent her a puckish smile. "You wouldn't deny your math teacher this little pleasure, would you?"

Blushing, Akane bowed respectfully and consented, promising to bring the form by after the holiday weekend.

* * *

As she skipped out of the school gates, Akane didn't even try to dim the grin splitting her face. "Hello, Ranma," she caroled to the figure doing pinky-finger push-ups against the wall. The tree next to him was festooned with gold and red autumn leaves, matching the highlights in his hair.

"You're in a good mood," he answered with a smile. "Great, because I wanted to ask you something."

Although, her happiness didn't leave, it was dimmed by sudden suspicion. Continuing to walk down the path, she turned her head and asked him to elaborate.

"So you know how you hate tutoring me in math?" he asked.

Curiosity piqued, Akane responded slowly, "Hate is a rather strong word. I'm not denying you're frustrating, but if you just did your homework, stopped doodling in class, and actually paid attention when I'm trying to help you, you'd do a lot better."

"Whatever," Ranma waved off her words blithely. A muscle in Akane's cheek started to tic in response as she ground her teeth.

"Anyways, if I don't pass Geometry, they've threatened to make me take summer classes." His face twisted in disgust. "Don't they know that the summer is when we go on big training trips?"

Akane snorted, "Well, you should start studying now then."

"Nah," Ranma replied. "I've got a better idea. I was talking to the Old Lech and he mentioned this monastery down in Okinawa that practices Martial Arts Geometry. Isn't it perfect?"

She was skeptical. "How does Happosai know about it?"

Laughing sheepishly, he tugged on the end of his braid and said, "Well, they only have female monks, see? Actually, they won't even allow men to visit. Only women are allowed to come and study." Then he wagged his eyebrows, "Luckily for us, we can both pass as women."

"What do you mean by '_pass_.' I'm always a woman, you idiot," she answered with annoyance. A chill breeze blew her skirt against her legs.

"Whatever you say, Akane," he said in an annoying singsong tone of voice. "Anyways, I need you to ask our fathers to buy us tickets to Okinawa. Tell them we're trying to work out our relationship by training together."

This caught Akane completely off guard. "You want me to say what?" she asked in a dangerous tone of voice.

Ranma shifted his bag to the opposite shoulder impatiently. "Look, Pops had a wad of cash that he won yesterday at pachinko. I overheard our Dad's talking this morning about using it to spring another wedding on us, even though they sorta promised not to. This way, we can use the money for something useful instead."

"Oh," Akane said. She wasn't quite sure how to respond to the way he'd implied that he didn't want to marry her. Not that she wanted another surprise wedding herself, but still.

"If I ask, they'll know something is up and brush me off. But if you ask them with those pretty big brown eyes, no way they'll be able to say no."

Once again, he'd combined an insult with a compliment, leaving Akane unsure which way to reply.

"Come on, we can go down over the long holiday weekend, learn a few of the basic katas for martial arts geometry, and come back to ace tests for the rest of the semester. Plus, you know Okinawa is famous for their bitter melons." Clasping his hands beneath his chin, he stepped in front of her and put on a pleading expression. "Please? It'll be fun!"

"Well," Akane hedged. She did want to impress Morimoto-Sensei with her work, especially since he had agreed to write her letter of recommendation for her college application. Learning some martial arts geometry might give her an edge, even in pre-calculus.

Plus, Ranma had asked her, not Ukyo or Shampoo. They would bankrupt themselves just to go on a trip alone with him. Instead, he had chosen her, Akane. _I thought you were going to settle for just being friends? _a little voice in the back of her mind asked. She ignored it.

"Alright, yes," she answered. "I'll go, but we can't miss any school for this. If it is taking too long to learn, we'll have to leave and come back another time," Akane warned.

Ranma let out a whoop of victory, "Yes! Martial arts geometry, here we come!" Then he jumped up onto the fence and did several flips and cartwheels down its length.

Laughing, Akane ran to catch up with him. An autumn holiday adventure learning new techniques in an exotic location… this should be fun. Especially since it would be just her and Ranma. Together as _friends_, she stressed to herself. Just friends.

[To be continued]

* * *

AN: Thank you again for reading and PLEASE review and let me know what you thought. I'd appreciate you pointing out any grammar errors etc. too.

As for those of you disappointed there wasn't more sexual tension in the early chapters, my excuse is that I've matured. I'm attempting to write plot and action that takes place over a longer time span than a few days. Also, as a married woman, I am no longer using writing to work out my UST and theoretical fantasies. On the plus side, I am planning to include some yummy make-out scenes and I now have lots of practical knowledge from my Latin lover to draw on. *Indygodusk gazes off into the distance as drool starts dripping down her chin* Whoops, sorry about that. Anyways, I still love alpha males who are possessive, so expect it to come. If that is OOC in your Ranma-verse, suck it up ;D

My husband is out of town this week for work, which sucks. But I've stocked up on Doritos, York peppermint patties, Twizzlers, and diet Barqs. It's brain food, right? (Hah, I know better but will pretend I don't.) What are the snacks you use to keep going late at night? I plan to write in the evenings and bust out even more of this story, so fuel advice is useful.


	3. Meetings, Prophecies, and Peaches

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and its characters belong to the fabulous Rumiko Takahashi.

AN: I am calling Ranma's female form 'Ranko.' Also, I am now officially 29. Go me, and go you for reading my stories!

* * *

**No More Pussyfooting Around**: a Ranma ½ fanfic

By Indygodusk

* * *

**Chapter 3: Meetings, Prophecies, and Peaches**

Sunlight slid through the glass windows of the train station and melted into large, buttery puddles along the walls and floors. Crowds of holiday travelers splashed in and out of those pools of sunlight, chattering happily as they moved down the stairs to the street or through the turnstiles to the train or subway. It reminded Akane of happy times in her youth, when her mother had gathered up the family and taken them off for a day of site seeing. Here and there people trickled off from the stream of travelers for a quick visit to the bakery for a flaky pastry or the newsstand for a magazine. She wondered what their stories were, what interesting destination each sun-splashed face traveled towards.

Setting her bulging backpack down against the wall, Akane checked her watch again with a sigh. If Ranma didn't show up in the next hour, they were going to miss the train to the airport. They'd already missed the original train that they had planned on taking. If they missed the next train, they'd miss the flight. Akane blew her bangs out of her eyes impatiently.

Why had that idiot insisted that they come separately to the train station? If he was anticipating some trouble, she could have helped him out. _Of course, maybe he just wanted to say goodbye to his other 'fiancées' in private_, she thought with a scowl.

_Well fine._ If he thought that dallying with other girls was more important than making their flight, she would just go by herself to Okinawa. She could have a fun time without Ranma. She firmly quashed the plaintive voice in her head that cried, _wasn't that the point of going? To be alone _with_ Ranma?_

Picking her bag back up, she flung it over one shoulder crossly. Then she stomped into the crowd. In her irritation, she accidentally knocked into someone's shoulder with her large bag. With an exclamation of surprise, the other girl staggered sideways and spilled her large purse onto the tile floor.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Akane apologized as she quickly crouched down to help pick up the pens, lipstick, and tissues that had skidded off into the traffic of feet before the items could be crushed. Barely snatching back her fingers and the last item from the slam of a man's large black leather boots, she clutched the plastic item in her hand. "Really, really so-," Akane broke off with a blush as she realized that the plastic package she'd assumed were tissues were actually condoms. "Sorry!" Stuffing them back into the girl's purse, Akane tried to suppress her flush and pretend she hadn't noticed anything.

Then she looked up into familiar chocolate brown eyes belonging to Miaka.

"A- Akane," Miaka breathed as embarrassed horror flooded an already scarlet face.

Momentarily stunned, Akane felt a hundred questions and speculations rush through her mind. But they weren't best friends anymore. Now they were only acquaintances. She didn't have the right to ask.

Swallowing back her first response, Akane stood up and extended a hand. "Here, let me help you up." Smiling as naturally as she could, she pulled the other girl up. "I'm sorry I bumped into you, really."

Miaka dusted off her knees and avoided eye contact. "Th- that's okay," she replied.

Herding Miaka back against the wall and out of the stream of traffic, she examined the other girl carefully. "Did you hurt yourself?"

"No," Miaka replied with more confidence. "Just a little dirt," she glanced at Akane's eyes and seemed to relax at what she saw there, "that and embarrassment. Nothing that will permanently scar."

Akane smiled involuntarily. "After that incident in eighth grade gym, I thought you swore nothing would ever embarrass you again?"

Momentarily united in shared memories, both girls grinned and locked gazes. "Akane! You swore never to bring that up again…" an evil grin tilted Miaka's lips. "I wonder if Ranma knows about that incident with Sakamoto-Sensei and the bottle of grapefruit Gokuri?"

Akane's mouth popped open in horrified recollection. "Peace! Peace!" Akane held her hands out in a warding gesture. "In fact, I don't even remember what I was talking about."

Miaka laughed and relaxed. "That's what I thought."

"So," Akane asked in the friendly silence, "where are you off to? I'm waiting for Ranma to show up so we can go to Okinawa." Seeing Miaka's eyes widen in speculation, Akane quickly added, "there's a martial arts geometry style that we're going to check out."

Confusion darkened Miaka's eyes. "Martial arts… geometry? Are you serious?"

A burble of laughter escaped Akane, "I know it sounds ridiculous, but yes. Ranma thinks this will get him out of actually studying. As for me, I'll admit that I'm curious. Besides," she added nonchalantly, "I've always wanted to visit Okinawa." _No other reasons to be excited for this trip_, she told herself sternly.

"Well, that sounds interesting," Miaka replied. "I'm, well," she hesitated for a moment, "I'm going to meet my boyfriend for, for some shopping."

It may have been years since they'd been best friends, but Akane still remembered what Miaka looked like when lying. Taking a deep breath, she cautiously asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Miaka flinched, confirming that Akane had seen through her excuse. "No, it's fine. I just…" meeting Akane's concerned gaze, Miaka faltered. Then, taking a shaky breath, Miaka blurted out, "Oh Akane, I think I might be making a mistake, but I don't know what else to do." Her lower lip trembled.

Putting a gentle hand on her friend's shoulder, Akane rubbed soothingly. "Let's go over to a café, get a cup of tea, and talk." Gently guiding Miaka down the hall, Akane coaxed, "Just like we used to." Everything else had faded from Akane's mind except the need to help her friend.

A small sigh escaped Miaka as she fell into step. "You wanna split a slice of cake too?" she asked with a wobbly smile.

"Sure, as long as you don't hog it all," Akane teased gently as the dust of years fell away from their friendship. In a gesture that had once been second nature, she threaded her arm through Miaka's.

Suddenly, their bubble of privacy popped. A sharp voice called out Miaka's name. Both girls stopped and looked up. Standing by the exit staircase on the other side of the crowd was Miaka's boyfriend. Although greasy bangs fell over his eyes, he had a classically handsome face.

When he saw that he'd gotten their attention, he ran one hand through his hair and then leaned back against the wall in a slouch that emphasized the flexing of his arms and chest. From the way his eyes met Akane's with a smirk, it was a conscious pose. As an athlete his body was nicely toned, but compared to the martial artists of her acquaintance, he was a weak child. It took Akane effort not to roll her eyes.

Not getting the reaction he'd hoped for, his smirk turned into a petulant scowl. Straightening back up, he tossed his head, breaking eye contact. Then he looked back, a tight smile in place, and impatiently beckoned Miaka over.

Akane glanced over at her friend, but all hints of soft vulnerability were gone. "Miaka?" she asked, fearing her chance to help had ended, that dust was resettling onto the cord of their friendship.

"Sorry," Miaka said as she untangled their arms, "I've got to go." Taking Akane's hand in hers, she squeezed it for a second in thanks.

"But what about-," Akane's anxious voice died as Miaka turned away. "See you around," Miaka said dismissively, eyes locked on her boyfriend across the room. Then she strode away into the crowd.

Akane frowned unhappily. Whatever the problem, Miaka had changed her mind about sharing. _At least now that her boyfriend has arrived_, Akane thought. _Could he be the problem_? A sigh escaped her lips_. Or maybe she just prefers telling him instead of a girl she hasn't really talked to in years. _Akane had no right to feel hurt about that.

However, after only a few steps, Miaka froze. She pivoted around. Her eyes looked strangely unfocused. People streamed around her as if she were a pebble in a brook. For a second, Akane would have sworn Miaka was seeing something besides the crowded transit station. Then Miaka flinched and took a stumbling step backwards. Her befuddled eyes focused on Akane's face, and her face morphed into an expression of terror.

Akane blinked.

Suddenly, Miaka was right there, standing next to Akane and clutching Akane's left hand in both of hers, locking their gazes more surely than chains and padlocks. Miaka's face looked manic. A strange light glittered in her eyes, which were dilated black with only a thin circlet of bronze to contain the inky, undulating darkness threatening to drag Akane down into something primal and terrifying. Akane's breath locked inside her chest.

"Don't go. The purple cloud harvests for the rat that devours purity. Better impure than to conceive the string of pearls!" Her voice was intense, quiet, and piercingly pure of tone. Miaka's nails had bit into Akane's hand from the tightness of her grip. Akane wanted to step back from the stifling cocoon isolating the two of them from the suddenly hazy crowd, but couldn't. Miaka's eyes held her frozen.

Abruptly, one of Miaka's hands let go. A second later, Akane felt a sharp fingernail stab into the center of her palm and begin drawing circles, over and over.

"For the mother, looping is the only hope. You've already looped back. Accept the loop between, remember to loop forward." Yanking Akane against her chest, Miaka hissed hotly into her ear, "Better to avoid it!"

Then she released Akane and blinked rapidly. When their gazes met again, Miaka's eyes and face looked stunningly normal. Akane could only gape at her.

Giving Akane a vague and friendly smile, Miaka said, "Take care of yourself, yeah?" and disappeared into the swirling crowd.

The bustle and chatter of the train station reentered Akane's awareness like the popping hiss of an opened seal. Rubbing the stinging half-moons on her hand slowly filling with dark blood, Akane tried to figure out what had just happened.

The yellow sunlight had disappeared behind a cloud, leaving the station colder and darker. The fast moving crowd now seemed impatient and hostile instead of cheerful. She felt confused and slightly scared, though she was trying to repress that. Miaka's whispered words made no sense. They were gibberish!

On the other side of the station, she saw Miaka emerge out of the crowd and cross to her boyfriend. He reached out and casually slung an arm over her shoulders. Miaka smiled up at him, and he didn't seem to notice anything unusual. Everything looked normal, just a boy and girl meeting up in a transit station. The couple then disappeared up the stairwell.

Akane had no idea what Miaka had been trying to warn her about. _Don't go on the plane? Avoid Okinawa? Why?_ And then there was all that rubbish about pearl necklaces and looping.

Maybe she wasn't trying to warn Akane at all. Perhaps Miaka was just trying to get rid of Akane so she wouldn't try to talk to Miaka's boyfriend. After all, he had been part of the horde of boys attacking Akane for a few months until he'd started dating Miaka. Jealousy had been one of the reasons their friendship had fractured, that and the fact that Akane couldn't stand him.

Or maybe Miaka just wanted to distract Akane from the mention of whatever 'mistake' the girl had been worried about. Maybe Miaka's boyfriend could help her out. Hopefully, Miaka would be okay.

As much as she'd wanted to escape Miaka while she'd been talking so eerily, Akane now wished she could talk more to her, but it was too late. Akane didn't even have her phone number. She'd never find them in the crowds outside before her train left either.

Scrubbing her fingers through her hair distractedly, Akane came to the frustrating conclusion that there was nothing she could do about it now. It probably was none of her business anyways, and whatever words Miaka had spouted were probably her idea of a joke. Miaka had liked practical jokes, back when they'd been friends.

A discouraged glance at her watch showed that Ranma still had over half an hour to arrive. She debated on buying him a ticket or letting him scramble for it himself last minute. _After all, if that jerk didn't show up, she didn't want to waste her money, right?

* * *

_

Less than five minutes later, Akane inserted her money into the machine for a second ticket. Ranma would show up last minute as always, and when he did, she would need a ticket for him so they could race over and jump through the doors of the train together. Snuggling the second ticket into the pocket of her jeans next to her own, she walked over to the entrance to wait.

Ten minutes passed.

Despite her best efforts to stay positive, Akane was losing the battle. She felt hurt at being abandoned by Ranma and anxious about Miaka's strange words and…. _No, you know what? No. I don't feel hurt or worried, I'm just mad. _Scowling at the milling crowds outside the doors, Akane found herself comforted by the familiar flush of rage. Anger was a familiar companion, much better than those other types of negative emotions. If she had to choose to be something else than happy, it might as well be mad, especially if Ranma wasn't going to appreciate her efforts to be otherwise. The straps of her backpack creaked at the strength of her grip.

Suddenly, a pair of legs in familiar black leggings with yellow lacings walked into the patch of flooring she'd been glaring at. "Akane? Are you alright?"

Looking up into warm brown eyes and a gentle smile revealing just a hint of fang, Akane felt her fisted hands start to relax. "Ryoga!" she greeted the lost boy with pleasant surprise. "I," shaking some of the anger out of her arms, she gave her friend a small smile. "It's good to see you. I didn't think you ever traveled by train."

Laughing nervously, Ryoga scratched the back of his head and smiled helplessly back. "I don't, actually. I just saw you through the windows here in Nara and had to come in to say hello."

"Ryoga, we're in downtown Tokyo," she explained gently.

Befuddlement and then disappointment crossed his face. The ends of his yellow and black bandanna seemed to go limp and Ryoga's shoulders slumped slightly. But a second later, he shook himself and straightened up.

Then Ryoga smiled at her again, a smile that brightened his face into handsome rakishness. It got her every time, the way his little fangs poked out so cutely when he grinned. "Well, I'm glad I came across you then," his smile widened until it became almost goofy, "Akane."

Fondness softened her once towering anger into a soggy sandcastle. She squeezed his arm affectionately. "I haven't seen you in weeks. I've been worried. In fact, I got all excited the last time Ranma got into a fight with P-chan," she laughed a little at herself, "thinking he was yelling at you instead and you'd come for a visit. I was pretty disappointed when I rounded the corner and saw the two of them fighting instead."

Ryoga had always been so easy to talk to. She would have liked to talk to him about her upcoming trip to Okinawa and about Miaka's strange words. He'd probably be supportive and complimentary about her adventures in controlling her temper, too. Thinking about her recent brush with rage, how easy it had been to slide into, she looked down at the ground for a moment in frustration. At least she hadn't broken anything.

When she looked back up, she saw Ryoga scratching the back of his head as if he felt uncomfortable. His smile had disappeared. _He must be picking up on my bad temper,_ she thought with shame. _Time to focus on your friend instead of yourself. _

Pushing down her emotions, she tilted her head to the side and looked up into his eyes. "So, what've you been up to?"

The goofy grin reappeared on his face and a red blush washed across his cheekbones and up the tips of his ears. "Oh, well I, ah," he let loose a silly laugh. "Just travelling here and there, you know me." He met her eyes and laughed again.

It was a silly and delightful laugh, and Akane found herself chuckling along with him for no reason. He really was a sweet man. She hoped that girl he liked, Akari, recognized what a gem he was. Of course, he could be a bit of an idiot around Ranma, but then again Ranma brought that out in everyone.

"Actually," Ryoga said, "I just came back from this little seaside village called… well I'm not sure what, actually." He put down his large yellow pack and started rummaging in it. "But I picked up a gift for you."

Stepping up to his side, Akane looked down curiously into his pack. A variety of strange items looked randomly tossed into the bag. _Was that a runcible spoon on top of a pair of deflated water wings?_ The whimsy of the items made her bite her bottom lip in amusement.

"Here it is!" Ryoga exclaimed as he pulled a small box out from the bottom of the pack. Still kneeling, he offered the box up to her and blushed again. "For you."

Smiling gently down at him, Akane wondered if it was going to be mochi or a back scratcher this time. Maybe a nice seashell based on the size? "Thank you, Ryoga." She winked at him. "You know," she drawled impishly, "I do-," _always love gifts,_ she finished internally as someone jostled roughly into Ryoga, interrupting her sentence and forcing him to drop the package.

As she looked up at the rude intruder, she saw a _very_ disheveled and angry Ranma glaring at them. "Ryoga," he spat, "what d'you think you're doing!"

Immediately, Ryoga's featured morphed into anger and irritation. "I'm talking to Akane, what does it look like? So get lost."

Ranma rocked back on his heels and scoffed. "Getting lost is your thing, not mine, _P-chan_. Why're you on your knees anyways, unless you find it easier walking around on all fours?" He mocked.

"Ranma," Ryoga growled. Picking up the box, Ryoga stood and dusted off his pants. The package was tossed into his bag, and then he turned back to Ranma with squared shoulders. Anger twisted his features, but he bit his lip before further answering Ranma's charge.

That moment of thought surprised Akane. _Maybe Ryoga had been trying to control his temper too?_ In fact, he looked exactly like she did when she was counting to ten in her head. Even the tapping finger along his thigh was the same. _Did he pick that up from the same book I did?_ She'd have to ask, though last time she'd seen the book had been when Ranma had chased P-chan down the hall and thrown it at the poor piglet. Luckily, she had put a fake cover on it so no one could tell that it was a self-help book.

Ryoga put a hand on his hip and looked Ranma up and down contemptuously. "You're one to talk. At least I'm not the one wearing a leash."

Giving the Ranma her own once-over, Akane cataloged his rough appearance: the disheveled hair sticking out in messy spikes, patches of black and white powder speckling his clothing, slight burn marks along one sleeve, a small spatula embedding into the top of his pack like a fork in a roast, and, the article of Ryoga's taunt, a red gymnastics ribbon wound around his neck with a dangling wooden handle.

_Yep, he'd been visiting the other women all right, _Akane thought. Of course, it didn't look like they'd been pleasant visits. Her lips twisted into a smirk.

Beneath Ryoga's temper, Akane saw a sly look flash briefly through his eyes. She was much more used to Ryoga's 'attack now, talk later' approach. He must have picked up some new training somewhere. That, or maybe he was just growing up. Maybe being with Akari was helping him to mature and become more thoughtful.

"You should have told me you were into, well, that," Ryoga said in a tone that was almost a drawl. "I could have saved you some money, since I'm willing to beat you up free of charge. I do draw the line at spanking though."

Akane's mouth dropped open in shock. _Ryoga did _not_ just say that! _

Inarticulate gurgles spewed from Ranma's crimson face. Dropping his pack, he launched himself at Ryoga. Tumbling down the staircase and outside, Akane just hoped they would take care to avoid bystanders.

Half amused, half irritated, Akane pulled the extra packs against the wall away from other pedestrians. She'd seen them fight so many times over the years; she didn't really feel the need to follow them outside. Instead, she decided to clean Ranma's pack off, throwing away two throwing spatulas, a rubber ducky with a razor sharp beak, and a sticky ball of dough, grit, and hair which she removed with the spatulas. _Yuck_, she grimaced.

Finished, she checked her watch and growled at the time. Striding over to an open window next to the stairs, she stuck her head out. Ranma and Ryoga were standing on top of the green bus shelter happily attacking one another and shouting insults. _Boys_!

"Ranma," she shouted, "I'm getting on that train in ten minutes with or without you on it!" It looked like Ranma might have twitched, but she didn't see him stop fighting, the jerk. Ryoga wasn't helping either, keeping up a barrage of attacks.

A minute passed.

"I'm leaving," Akane yelled again.

The boys continued punching and kicking. She could see their mouths occasionally moving, but couldn't hear what they were saying. They weren't even fighting that seriously. After all, no one was using ki attacks yet.

Yet they couldn't bother to stop and listen to her. Below them, an enthralled crowd watched and grew bigger. _After all, everybody loves a spectacle_, she thought a bit bitterly.

Akane was NOT happy. Deciding to try one last, slightly devious tactic before dropping both of their bags down a garbage chute, a garbage chute full of feral cats, Akane cupped her hands around her mouth and leaned farther out the window.

"Oh, Ryoga," she caroled as sweetly as possible under the circumstances, "if you want to go on a private trip with me, I'll share my tickets and hotel room with you. Otherwise, I'll have to find some other man to go with me, since Ranma can't be counted on."

Pulling herself back inside the station, she swiveled around to find several men staring at her butt. One sweaty little man even wiggled his fingers at her when he saw her gaze. "I volunteer!" he offered with a lecherous grin.

"Not a chance," she immediately replied. She hadn't actually been serious about finding someone. Well, Ryoga might be a fun friend to travel alone with since he had so much experience, but she wasn't the kind of girl to pick up a _stranger_ for a weekend getaway.

Her strategy had three possible outcomes. One, those idiots would continue fighting and ignoring her, and she'd go to Okinawa herself. When she got back she would make Ranma's life a living hell. Two, Ryoga would somehow break off the fight, boot Ranma into the sky, and come hang out with her. (_Though she wasn't sharing her room, no matter what she said. He could take Ranma's reservation.)_ Admittedly, Ryoga rarely won, and when he did he usually embedded Ranma into the ground instead of the sky, but it was still a possibility. Three, the final option, Ranma would get jealous. He'd beat Ryoga and then come storming in. There would be insults, but it would still allow them to make the train on time.

Deep down, she hoped for option three. It was a strangely frustrating part of their relationship, how years of interaction had taught Akane that she could count on Ranma getting possessive and jealous, but she couldn't count on him being complimentary or affectionate. Ranma fiercely resisted any threat to their engagement, but he didn't want to act engaged. She just couldn't figure Ranma out. His caveman outbursts infuriated her sense of independence, but they also made something deep inside her flush with languid heat.

Because she didn't trust her own reaction, she had rarely exploited this personality trait. It felt wrong and maybe even dangerous, but right now she wanted to be _wanted_. If it worked, she'd worry about the rest of it once they arrived down in Okinawa.

If it didn't… well, maybe it was time to officially break their engagement off for good. She would pull aside Daddy and be serious and calm and really get his promise this time. Then she could focus on being just a friend. In time, Ranma could become just another cute male friend like Ryoga, someone with a nice smile but no romantic intentions.

Akane ignored the disbelieving snort from her subconscious.

Picking up her bag, Akane settled it onto one shoulder. A deep breath, and then she flicked her gaze quickly outside to check on the situation. Ranma and Ryoga weren't fighting anymore, but they were still out there. She was in here alone and waiting… while they were outside there talking! _Well, they can go on talking, or arguing, or- or exchanging cake recipes for all I care._

Grinding her teeth, she kicked both of their stupid bags over onto the floor. Then she stomped into the crowd. _Stupid jerks!_ She was not blinking away tears, she just had some dust in her eyes.

The line to get onto the train platform was backed up. Craning her neck, she could see a repairman crouching down with his hand inside the entry machine. Swiping her cheeks dry, Akane stepped to the back of the line.

Several seconds later, a duet of, "Hey, Akane!" and "Akane, wait!" echoed from the hallway at her back. She stiffened her spine, but refused to turn around.

All of a sudden, the two boys popped up in front of her. Both had grabbed their packs, and they wore slightly sheepish expressions. Akane felt a muscle tic in her cheek. She forced herself to take several heavy breaths.

_Option four then,_ she decided, _since the two of them like each other so much._

"Here," she said in a controlled tone of voice as she whipped the two tickets out of her pocket and thrust them at Ranma. He flinched back, as if expecting her to whack him across the face with them. Well, at least he wasn't cowering with his hands over his head anymore. Though sometimes, she missed the cowering.

"What?" Ranma asked in confusion, not taking the tickets.

Akane gave him a frosty smile. "Why don't you take Ryoga to Okinawa with you, since you two like each other so much."

"Ugh," Ranma grimaced. Both boys looked a little ill at her words.

"Look, I'm sorry I'm late. I ran into some trouble," Ranma explained. He'd removed the ribbon from his neck while fighting Ryoga. As he spoke, he tried to flatten his wild hair by running his fingers through it. "But I'm here now, so we can still go together," he wheedled.

"Yeah," Ryoga broke in. "I'm sorry I distracted him and almost made you late, even though he started it. Please forgive me, Akane?"

Both men shot each other a little scowl and then smiled at Akane guiltily. She wanted to stay hard, but having the two of them combined giving her puppy-dog eyes was more than she could handle after the emotional rollercoaster of the afternoon. She sort of wished she had a camera.

A defeated sigh escaped Akane's lips. "Fine, but the train is leaving in a minute. We really do need to get going." Looking over at Ryoga, Akane felt suddenly awkward. "Um, I only have two tickets."

Ryoga looked quickly away from her face. When he looked back, he gave her a fixed smile. "That's fine. I don't like the train anyways."

Akane felt really bad. Maybe she had enough in her savings to buy him a ticket? "Well, I could-" Akane started to say before Ranma interrupted her by loudly clearing his throat. He might have also elbowed Ryoga, though she wasn't sure.

Jumping a little, Ryoga cleared his own throat and put down his bag. Then he started rooting inside. "I need to be getting back to Akari anyways," he said in a strange voice, "I haven't seen her in awhile."

Ranma shuffled his feet and then said, "Hey man, thanks for the fight and stuff."

"Heh, whatever," Ryoga replied with a small smile. "You need to work on your side kicks though, they're getting weak."

"Are not!" Ranma replied with an obviously fake scowl.

_Male bonding_, Akane thought, suppressed an eye roll and grin.

"Anyway," Ryoga continued, "here's that gift for you, Akane. It's a sea salt scrub, good for the skin and, uh, stuff."

"Thank you, Ryoga," she said with a warm smile as she took the small box and put it in her own pack.

"Oh," Ryoga continued, "I forgot about this." He was holding a complex belt made of small geometric tiles and metal swirls. "It's a man's puzzle belt. It doesn't really match my outfit, so I never use it," he explained.

Akane just blinked at his statement, imagining Ryoga worrying about something like color coordination and comfortable yet slimming tops.

"Here," he offered it to Ranma. "Take it."

Surprise bloomed on Ranma's face, widening his blue eyes. "What? Me?"

"It's a puzzle belt, so you have to press a certain sequence of tiles and strips to both open and close it," said Ryoga. "With the way you change, you'd have to be pretty quick at the sequence to get it on or off." Ryoga gave Ranma a teasing half-smile, one fang sticking out over his lip just a little. "Maybe you're too _slow_ for a gift like a _man's_ puzzle belt though. I could get you a woman's ribbon instead."

"Hey, I'm faster than you are!" Ranma protested with annoyance. "And I'm a guy!"

"You like to think so," Ryoga responded in a skeptical voice, but he relented, holding out the belt and showing Ranma the sequence of tiles and wires to push. Akane couldn't tell if the tiles were ceramic, wood, or seashell.

Abruptly, the line started moving. Akane held out a ticket to Ranma. "We need to get going," she said.

Quickly latching and unlatching the belt, Ranma beamed at both Akane and Ryoga. "This is cool! Thanks again, man." Ranma latched the belt around his hips over his red Chinese shirt.

After punching Ryoga on the shoulder, Ranma turned to Akane and took both train tickets. "See you later," he called back to Ryoga.

Then Ranma grabbed her hand firmly and ran them through the turnstile, flashing their tickets to an employee. Down the stairs they quickly hopped, his warm hand enclosing hers, as they dashed onto the train for the airport. The doors swooshed close behind their backs, almost catching Akane's bag, and the train took off with a rumble.

* * *

The next day, Akane looked around at the lush island greenery and couldn't help but smile. Okinawa really was beautiful in the golden sunshine. After a good nights sleep, she had decided that Miaka really had been playing a joke on her. There was nothing to worry about here.

A warm breeze ruffled her knee-length blue skirt and sent hair skittering across her eyes. Pulling several strands out of her mouth, she glanced around the open market until she spotted Ranma talking to a shop owner several stalls down. After paying for a lush golden peach, she strolled over to his side.

Ranma was asking for directions to get to the women's temple where they taught martial arts geometry. The portly male shopkeeper rocked back and forth on his heels as he spoke. As Akane got closer she could hear that his words were touched with a strong local accent. "Must be a popular place this weekend, since a couple of guys were wandering around the market asking after it this morning. Had official lookin' uniforms and everythin'."

When Akane stepped up to Ranma's side, he sent her a quick smile of acknowledgement before turning back to the shopkeeper. Taking a large, juicy bite of her peach, Akane happily chewed as she waited. Although she couldn't help but notice Ranma's broad shoulders and effortless grace as he gestured at the shopkeeper, she decided to focus on the taste of her peach instead.

"Yeah, well, we were just wondering which path to take up the mountain to get there," Ranma said.

"Only women allowed up there though," the shopkeeper responded repressively. "Won't do you no good, you're not allowed. They're scary women too, will beat you up as soon as look at you."

"That won't be a problem," Ranma said. "We're girl- I mean _she_ is. We need directions because she wants to go there."

Taking another bite of her peach, Akane felt juice trickling down her chin. _Mmm_ _s'good_, she thought as her eyes fell half-closed in bliss. This might just be the best peach she'd ever eaten. Relishing the taste, she brought her fingers up to wipe the juice from her chin. After swallowing the pulp in her mouth, she licked off her lips and then the trails of juice from her palm and each fingertip.

She was contemplating the shiny trail down her forearm when she realized that no one was talking. Looking up from her sticky arm, she saw both men staring at her. The shopkeeper's mouth was slightly open, but she only distantly noticed it.

All of her attention had been captured by the dazzling vortex of Ranma's dark blue eyes. She wasn't sure how to interpret his intent expression, but it made her face flush and her breath catch. Her body started to sway forward, but was checked by the clearing of the shopkeeper's throat. Ranma blinked and looked away. Furtively she dropped her hand to her side and tried to catch her breath.

The shopkeeper cleared his throat again. "Right then, directions," and with a red face he preceded to explain. He closed with, "good luck," and turned back to unload a crate of jams onto his table of wares.

After thanking him, Ranma and Akane took off towards the trailhead. Once out of site in the trees, Ranma pulled out a water bottle and poured it over his head. Akane watched as he became a she. As Ranma's black hair turned red, she wondered for the thousandth time how a girl with such coloring came to be drowned in China. After screwing the cap back on, Ranko pulled her pants up higher, tightened her new puzzle belt above her feminine hips, and adjusted the straps on her backpack.

* * *

Several hours later, Akane and Ranko came around a corner in the trail to a large, wooden gate. A printed sign next to the gate proclaimed that this was the home of a female sect dedicated to martial arts geometry. Beneath that was nailed a board with the words, 'No men allowed!'

Shooting Akane a mischievous grin, Ranko bounced through the gate and up the hill. Trotting after him, Akane watched as several wooden buildings quickly come into view. Next to one of the buildings she could see a large garden. There were no people outside though, which seemed odd for the middle of the day.

As they approached the doors at the front of the main building, Akane heard someone yell. Abruptly, the doors burst open and several figures tumbled out. A few seconds later, she realized that the figures were two women kicking the snot out of four men. Akane hesitated, not sure which side to join.

Suddenly, more men ran around the side of the building. They were all dressed in the same black and purple uniform. A few peeled off to help their friends, but the rest rushed straight at Akane and Ranko.

Dropping her pack, Akane prepared to defend herself. The next few minutes sped by as she took out one opponent after another. Blocking a punch to the gut, Akane twisted and sent a lightning fast kick at the jaw of her opponent. He toppled to the ground like a felled tree.

As she spun in a quick circle, she realized that they were the only ones left standing. Most of the men were on the ground surrounding a smirking Ranko. Akane relaxed and shook out her arms. Ranko yawned and readjusted her belt. "What a joke," she said, prodding one of the strangers on the ground with her shoe. "They didn't even put up much of a fight."

Before Akane could reply, she heard a strange popping sound. It reminded her of the celebration confetti poppers her father and Mr. Saotome liked to use when they tried to spring wedding ceremonies on them. She looked around suspiciously for a fat panda.

Suddenly, lavender smoke filled the air. Akane tasted something sickly sweet and oily on her tongue, and began to cough and gag. Nausea surged in her stomach. Her head began to spin and she fell over. Pulling the collar of her shirt up over her mouth to filter some of the gas, Akane tried to crawl her way over to Ranko. The lavender smoke was almost opaque. It made her eyes water so fiercely that she could barely see a thing.

After a few seconds of blind crawling, she felt her head crack into something. "Ranma?" she gasped.

"Akane," Ranko exclaimed in relief as she scooped Akane up in her arms and started to run, trying to get out of the cloud of smoke. Arms clutching Ranko tightly, Akane buried her face in the crook of Ranko's neck. Then the sickly sweet smoke overcame her and swallowed her mind in darkness.

* * *

Ranko could feel Akane's moist lips pressed against the bare skin of her neck. It was an intimacy Ranko savored despite the direness of their situation. Ranma had gotten used to the fact that holding Akane only happened when something bad was going on. In fact, a favorite perk of the Nerima fights came from the opportunity to splay his hands around Akane's supple back and toned thighs. Not that he'd ever let Akane know that.

Then Akane went limp in Ranko's arms. Heart jolting in fear, Ranko tried to run faster, but the purple smoke seemed to have no border. She must have gotten turned around. Black spots started speckling her vision.

Somehow, Ranko found herself on her knees. The ache in her head intensified when she tried to stand up. Dizziness overcoming her, Ranko fell onto her side. Clutching Akane tighter to her chest, she pressed her precious burden between her own body and the ground. Then Ranko gave in to the inevitable and passed out.

* * *

Ranko woke up when she felt someone trying to pry her hands off of Akane. "Mine," Ranko growled. Too weakened to pry open her eyes, she angrily tried to kick the hands away from Akane. She felt her foot make contact, and someone yelped. Ranko started to grin. Suddenly, more hands were holding her down, ripping Akane away. Fighting through the blackness, she managed to pry open her eyes.

In a quick glance, Ranko blearily noticed that she was surrounded by water. Turning her head to the side, she realized she was lying on the deck of a ship. There were men in those strange black and purple uniforms surrounding her and the still form of Akane. Other female bodies were tied up on the deck, unconscious. Akane legs were crumpled a few feet away from Ranko's face. Two men picked up Akane's arms and started dragging her away.

Seeing red, Ranko found the strength to get up and try to push them off of Akane. More guards rushed over. Before Ranko could do more than heave the first two guards over the railing into the sea, someone tackled her from behind.

Several people held each of Ranko's struggling limbs down. Another guard with a strange purple mark on his cheek ran up and covered her mouth and nose with a dripping, foul smelling cloth. _No!_ Ranko howled in her mind as claws of blackness rose once again to drag her under.

(To be continued)

* * *

AN: Yay, I've finally gotten up to the point where I actually started writing this story last month! Thanks for hanging in until we got to the main plot. Hopefully, you're excited to see what comes next. It's tough getting pronouns correct when Ranma is in female form. To me, he always thinks like a guy, but he sometimes has a female body. I end up confusing myself, but hopefully not you. Please point out any mistakes you see.

This chapter took longer than I'd hoped because I discovered 'Dr. Who' and the joys of Rose/Doctor fanfiction. Oh my goodness! I've been living on the site 'A teaspoon and an open mind.' If you guys have any Dr. Who fic recs, please share!


	4. Bondage and Beads

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and its characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi, not me.

AN: Warning- _This chapter gets DARK_. It contains violence and mentions of rape, although nothing sexually explicit. Also, I am calling Ranma's female form 'Ranko.'

* * *

**No More Pussyfooting Around**: a Ranma ½ fanfic

By Indygodusk

* * *

**Chapter 4: Bondage and Beads**

Upon waking, Akane first noticed that a heavy metal band had decided to practice inside her skull. They were threatening to break apart her head with all the racket they were making. A second later, she realized that someone must consider skulls breaking open a valid threat, because a strap circled her head tightly and bit uncomfortably into her cheeks. It must be there to keep her skull in one piece. The fact that it secured a gag in her mouth at the same time was only a coincidence, she was sure. _I'd rather you allow my head to just break open, if anyone cares to ask,_ she thought with black humor. A twitch of her wrists confirmed that they were tied together tightly as well.

A brisk wind blew across her body, causing painful prickles across her bare legs. Akane shivered. Fear, a faint nausea, and grogginess had glued her eyes shut, but it was time to wake up and get a move on. She had to know what was going on. _You've been kidnapped tons of times before_, she told herself. _Stop dawdling. You should be blasé about this sort of thing by now._

Slowly, she cracked open her eyelids. It took her disoriented mind a few seconds to process what she was seeing. Outside an open window she saw a river and a verdant jungle full of large, lush trees. Above the trees hung a hazy blue-gray sky. No bars on the windows at least, so escape should be easy once she got her bonds off. She just needed to get her head to stop throbbing for a minute so she could think of a plan. As she slowly turned her head to take in the rest of the room, Akane twitched in surprise.

Across the room, a large man crouched over an unconscious Ranko, her lashes fanned closed above pale cheeks. He wore the same black and purple uniform as the men they'd fought before. The redheaded girl looked petite next to his bulk. But as Ranko had proved time and again, size wasn't everything. At least, when she was awake.

As Akane watched in increasing horror, the burly man tried to pull Ranko's belt open, but the puzzle-link clasp was proving too difficult. Pulling out a gleaming little knife, he inserted it between Ranko's waist and belt and, with a dissatisfied grunt, started to saw.

"Did they really have to double-dose this one? She couldn't have been as difficult as they claimed, she's too small to put up much fight," he complained in a baritone growl. "I like them all squirmy."

Gasping in outrage through the dirty rag in her mouth, Akane tried to leap to her feet. _She had to save Ranko!_ Before she could do more than sit up, however, a hand reached out and brutally flung her body back down onto the ground. Akane's head rebounded hard off the floor.

Painfully dazed, it took a moment for Akane's vision to clear of spiky black spots. When it finally did, she saw a second man come into focus standing right above her. He was dressed in the same uniform as the other.

"Me too," he said with a chuckle. "But luckily, mine's awake. You can have her when I'm done if you want, though I can't promise not to break her first."

Through the pain in her head Akane saw him undo the fastenings of his pants, and realized with horror that her skirt was already pushed up above her waist.

Catching her eyes, he smiled unpleasantly, revealing brown-stained teeth. "I like the ones who scream and struggle, so why don't you give me and my friend both a treat. She won't mind the noise." He gestured at the unconscious Ranko with his chin.

"Can't be too loud though, or somebody might come and ruin things," the man by Ranko warned. "If we're gonna take off after this, you better leave the gag. Won't be as fun that way, but that's life. Otherwise, someone might try to come an' join in, and then we'll have'ta split the girls and profit even farther," he shrugged. Then he met Akane's dazed eyes and leered.

Grasping Akane's bound wrists tightly, her attacker wrenched them above her pounding head with one hand. Then he began forcing her naked legs apart with the other. Ragged nails stabbed into her knee as she tried to resist.

"C'mon," he growled, "be a good girl and open up." Suddenly, a bony knee joined the fingers prying at her legs and succeeded in pushing her knees apart. Akane felt wiry hair scraping against her inner thigh and screamed into the gag.

Rearing up, she purposefully bashed her forehead into his nose with a loud crunch. Blood exploded down her face and into one eye, partially blinding her. He screamed and flinched back. As his hold loosened, she twisted her arms free and rammed her elbow into his temple, knocking him off her body and to the side.

Scrabbling onto her feet, she barely kept upright as his booted foot kicked her hard in the right thigh, flinging her back against a table. Akane twisted against the table, barely avoiding his second kick. Only the flailing of her arms kept her upright.

The impact of her body knocked a wooden chest off the table and onto the floor. It splintered open with a loud clatter. Coins, jewels, and broken pottery spilled out. A ball of rotting cloth spun out and bounced several feet. Each impact with the floor sent up a puff of blackish-purple dust as the cloth disintegrated before her eyes. When the bundle finally skidded to a stop, a loop of glistening black string fell out. There was something strange about it. The string almost seemed to be sucking in the light around it, causing the room to slowly dim.

"You're going to pay for that," her attacker threatened, breaking Akane's momentary fascination. Through the blood dripping into her eyes, she saw him pull up his pants and come up onto one knee. Her right leg almost gave out as she danced farther to the side out of his reach.

Glaring hatefully, Akane's attacker paused to hawk up a mouthful of blood, which he spat to the side. Taking advantage of the pause, she tried to swipe some of the blood out of her eyes. With her improved vision, she could now see the second man from the corner of her eyes. He was jumping up to join the fight. Akane needed to end this quickly.

Blood continued to stream from her attacker's broken nose to drip off his chin. A demonic light entered his eyes. "After I rape you, I'm going to saw up your pretty little face with a rusty knife and throw you in the basement for the rats to eat," he gurgled, then spit more blood to the side.

Putting a hand on the floor for leverage, he lunged up at her. Akane leaned back with a sob and executed a perfect sidekick. Her foot rammed into the side of his chin with all the force of a bullet train, shattering his jaw and flinging him unconscious into the wall across the room.

The second man was forced to dodge his unconscious friend's flailing limbs. "Bitch!" he screamed at her.

Akane responded by quickly rushing forward and walloping him across the side of the head with her bound fists. He staggered back, but he didn't go down.

Retaliating, he brought up his shiny little knife and slashed at her. The sharp blade slid through her shirt like butter. For a moment she didn't feel anything. _He missed,_ she thought with relief. A second later fiery pain bloomed across her ribs and down her side. Akane hissed painfully through her gag. She dodged several more slashes as wetness seeped down her body.

Staggering back, Akane feared that this was a fight she was going to lose. She still felt groggy from the drugged purple smoke, so her reactions were slower. More and more, she was having trouble getting enough air through the thick cloth in her mouth and her swollen nose. Plus, the tight bindings on her arms made maneuvering difficult. Now that she'd been cut, she had a limited amount of time before she passed out from blood loss. Things were not looking good.

Out of the corner of her eye, the bright red of Ranko's hair caught Akane's eye. The girl was still unconscious and splayed out on the floor. _Ranma would never quit_, Akane thought. Hundreds of images of Ranma fighting, getting knocked down, failing, only to get back up again until he finally _won_ raced through her mind. _He doesn't know the meaning of the word!_ _Well, neither do I, _Akane declared to her aching body.

Resolved, Akane waited for an opening in her opponent's defense. _I've got to protect Ranko until she wakes up. _When a break finally came, she turned and kicked her attacker in the side with a back kick. He staggered. It slowed him down, but he still had the knife.

After barely dodging several more blows, Akane knew that she needed to end this soon. Her energy was almost gone and she felt like throwing up. If she did that with the gag in her mouth, she could choke to death on her own vomit. Swallowing hard, Akane barely avoided another slash.

Then she got lucky. He stepped on the glistening black loop and his foot rolled. It was only a slight stumble, but it was enough.

Inhaling hard, Akane put all of her power into a spinning kick. The ball of her foot slammed into his solar plexus, folding him over her leg as all of the breath exploded out of his body. Stepping up, she brought her hands down hard on the back of his neck and knocked him out cold. His body dropped onto the wooden floorboards like a stack of bricks.

Panting, Akane waited for more guards to come running at all of the commotion. When no one appeared, she realized that they must be used to screams around here. The thought made her feel even more ill. Turning the man's unconscious body over with her foot, Akane looked for his knife.

Finally she spied the hilt sticking out underneath his ankle. Kicking his leg off of it, she flopped down and grabbed the knife. She could only hold the hilt awkwardly, with the blade parallel to her forearms. Akane sprawled sideways onto the ground and sawed determinedly at her bonds.

Time slowed, like oozing honey. It felt like her strength was draining into the ground. Had she felt this weak a minute ago? She couldn't remember. Akane could feel warm and sticky blood pooling underneath her side. Something she was laying on was hard and digging into her body uncomfortably, almost painfully. The bloody knife kept slipping out of her grip.

But Akane Tendo was nothing if not stubborn. She would not quit.

Finally, an eternity later, the rope parted. Akane had nicks all over her forearms, but her hands were free. She massaged her tingling fingers and then gingerly cut off her gag. Spitting out the foul fabric, half splattered with her first opponent's blood, she slowly rotated her aching jaw. Being able to close her mouth was blissful. She wanted to just lay her head down onto the floor and sleep. It would be so tempting to just let the floor absorb her.

Yet there was something she needed to do. _What was it?_

Something urged her to ignore it, to just lie there and rest and let her pain seep away into the floor. A moment or two more wouldn't hurt anything….

But Akane couldn't quit. _You don't know the meaning of the word, remember?_

Gritting her teeth, she slowly forced herself up onto her side, and even more slowly, onto her hands and knees. It felt like the floor was suctioning onto her body, trying to hold her down, but she fought against it.

Akane had decided to stand up. Therefore, nothing was going to stop her. Simple. A minute later, she felt a surge of success and renewed energy as she stood swaying on her own two feet.

Looking down, she saw blood spattered across the floor. Some of it came from the two unconscious guards, particularly that gusher of a bloody nose the first guy had had, but at least one of those puddles came from the gash in her side. If it continued to bleed like that, she was going to be in trouble.

Then Akane remembered, "Ranma!" _How could she have forgotten Ranma?_

Stumbling over to the redhead, Akane quickly cut her friend loose. She felt exquisite relief when she saw that Ranko's pants were still in place, the belt only partially cut. There didn't seem to be any other wounds besides a shallow scrape along the side of her face.

"Ranma," Akane called as loudly as she dared. She didn't want to bring any more guards. "Wake up." When shaking failed to rouse her, Akane started to get angry. Better that then scared.

"You idiot, stop being so freakin' lazy!" Akane slapped Ranko. Hard. But Ranko's pale face simply lolled to the side, unresponsive.

Akane bit her lip in worry. _What had that guard been saying when she was waking up? Something about a second dose?_ Whatever the gas or drug was, it had proven to be surprisingly effective. She couldn't think of anything else that would keep Ranma asleep through a battle, much less an attempted rape.

_Don't think about that right now_, she scolded herself.

Seeing a purple sash discarded on the floor, Akane picked it up. It looked mostly clean. Taking a fortifying breath, Akane lifted up her sliced shirt and examined her side. The gash still bled sluggishly, but she didn't think it had gone deep enough to puncture any organs. Not that she could do anything about it right now if it had. Gritting her teeth, Akane wrapped the sash tightly around her waist several times and knotted it.

By the end of this procedure, her breath was coming in panting little whines. Black and white spots jumped across her vision. She was thoroughly sick of the little black spots, she decided. A second later, Akane was on her knees, gagging. Pain wracked every inch of her body as she vomited repeatedly onto the floor.

_Don't pass out, don't pass out, don't… pass…out. DON'T! _Finally, Akane's heaves stopped. She had nothing left to bring up. Spitting one last time, she wiped her mouth off shakily. Then she crawled over to Ranko.

The redhead was still unconscious. Akane picked up Ranko's hand and held it in her lap. Placing her fingers over Ranko's healthy pulse, Akane let the solid beat of it soothe her. Just touching Ranko made her feel a little bit better, as if strength were flowing into her body. She counted heartbeats until she reached two hundred.

Akane was going to have to rescue both of them.

_No problem,_ she told herself. It would give her something to hold over Ranma's head after this was all over too.

Actually, she was feeling better. The nausea and pain had receded a little bit. Taking a deep breath, she released Ranko's hand with a caress and stood up.

Another wind swirled into the room from the open window. The air crawled up her legs and skirt, all the way up her skirt. Akane swallowed hard. Then, feeling sick again, she started searching the room for her missing underwear. She couldn't find it anywhere. Akane had to sit down and put her head between her knees before she hyperventilated and really did pass out. _She couldn't think about this right now, she just couldn't._

When she finally calmed down she checked on Ranko again, but the girl was still passed out. Looking at the cut on Ranko's belt, and thinking of her lost panties, Akane felt a bolt of livid rage explode in her mind.

Something snapped. Akane found herself standing over the unconscious guards with the knife clutched in her hands.

_Go ahead_, something whispered in her mind, _they deserve it. No one will ever know. A little more blood on the ground won't make a difference. _

Flushed with rage, Akane dimly realized that her self-help book hadn't prepared her for this. She could feel the solid hilt of the blade in her hand, tacky with blood, begging to be used. She'd never been this angry before.

_Anything goes martial arts, right?_

_But is stabbing helpless men really part of the code? _

_They'd do it to you, after raping you and Ranma both._

_But…._

The pressure inside her head was building, until finally she couldn't take it anymore.

_Do it!_ Something inside her head screamed.

With a strangled snarl, Akane stabbed the blade as hard as she could into the floor. It sunk in up to the hilt, quivering, equidistant between her would-be rapist's throat and the loop of ebony string saturated by a pool of her congealing blood.

Akane Tendo had a lot of practice ignoring the voices in her head. Sure, those voices were usually whispering sweet nothings about Ranma instead of trying to get her to cut somebody's throat, but it was the same principle. All those weeks of controlling her violent tendencies lately had also helped.

However, that didn't mean that she wasn't still angry. Jumping up, Akane found herself kicking and stomping her attackers in a mad tap dance of revenge. She concentrated particularly on the genitals. Finally, panting, she stopped. It would be hard to identify the two lumps of flesh on the floor as human beings anymore, but they were still alive.

Akane felt a lot better. The renewed ache in her side was totally worth it.

Taking a deep breath, she decided that it was now time for her and Ranko to escape. First, she had to get out of the building. Then, an escape down the river would be their quickest getaway. After that, they would find some people to help get them back to the city.

Akane ignored the fact that she couldn't swim. She needed to concentrate on her first goal. A quick glance around the room showed her the limit of her assets: some sashes on the floor by the wall, two unconscious guards, an empty table, and a broken box with coins and gems on the floor.

As for the 'valuables,' they would just weigh her down. The coins and gems wouldn't help her escape. If she did run into any guards, they'd just take them from her before she could even get out the word 'bribe.'

However, those sashes could be useful for more than just bandages. Picking up several sashes, Akane turned them over in her hands a few times with consideration. Then she began knotting them together until she'd constructed a harness to help secure Ranko to her body once they got in the water. _If only Ryoga had given me his water wings instead of those bath salts_, she thought longingly.

When she finished, she looked around the room again. There had to be something else useful in here.

_The knife?_

Akane didn't want to touch it again, but it was her job to protect Ranko until she woke up. With a gash in her side and potentially a concussion, Akane needed all of the help she could get. Firming her lips, she forced herself to walk back over to the blade stuck in the floor. Akane came within a few feet of it before some inner sense of revulsion boiled up and forced her to stumble to a stop.

_Something was wrong._ Wrong or different, _but what?_ The hair on the back of Akane's neck prickled. Her empty stomach churned. Taking a slow breath, she took a step back and examined the scene.

Everything looked just as she'd left it, didn't it? The hilt of the blade protruded from the wooden floor and reflected in the clean gloss of the surrounding golden-brown floorboards. On the floor nearby lay a necklace of blood-red beads, which scintillated in the sunlight from the window. They must have fallen out of the chest. A few bits of decayed cloth rested nearby.

The longer she looked at the scene, the more her eyes kept returning to the necklace. It was beautiful. As she watched, the light across each bead seemed to ripple, almost as if there were pale pink shapes undulating inside. She took a step closer. Around the necklace, shadows and thin red streams seeped along the clean floorboards towards it like water down a drain. The crimson beads on their black string pulsed.

As she watched, the dark red of the necklace slowly began to change, lightening to the blush of a woman's cheek and then the pink luster of a peony petal. It was the loveliest thing Akane had ever seen. They turned paler and paler, until only white pearls remained. Each pearl contained a squirming, ghostly shape. She couldn't quite make them out. Akane squinted and stepped closer. She wanted, needed, to put the necklace on. It called out to her. Kneeling down, she slowly stretched forth her hand.

TO BE CONTINUED

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AN: Thank you for continuing to read now that we are getting into the meat of the story. What did you think of the chapter and of the story so far? How were Akane's reactions? What do you think she'll do next? Will Ranma ever wake up? Stay tuned and please give me a review to let me know your thoughts.

Thank you to: _Chishiosama, SenceLess, jd, Rebel Sage, Vlightphase, kurasuchi, coughdrop101, Shikyo-sama, Nekoi, AK-47, thwarth, Bloodsong, hon, quivering quill, J Luc Pitard, superbunny, JeremyGU, , gort 420, Jeschura, jdcocoagirl, bambii46, Pat Stapleton, Rio Grande, Doctor Emmit Brown._


	5. Pearls and Distressed Damsels

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and its characters do not belong to me. Sadness.

AN: I am calling Ranma's female form 'Ranko.' "Baka" means idiot, stupid, or moron.

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**No more pussyfooting around**: a Ranma ½ fanfic

By Indygodusk

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**Chapter 5: Pearls and Distressed Damsels**

_As Akane watched, the dark red of the necklace slowly began to change, lightening to the blush of a woman's cheek and then the pink luster of a peony petal. It was the loveliest thing Akane had ever seen. The beads turned paler and paler, until only white pearls remained. Each pearl contained a squirming, ghostly shape. She couldn't quite make them out. Akane squinted and stepped closer. She wanted, needed, to put the necklace on. It called out to her. Kneeling down, she slowly stretched forth her hand._

Inside her head she could dimly hear a shouting voice. From moment to moment the tone changed, from man to woman to something almost feline. Later there would be time to figure it out. Right now, the necklace needed all of Akane's attention.

Smiling gently, she leaned forward. It was communicating with her. _Those small wiggling forms in the pearls are…. _

Fingers only inches from the lucent pearl necklace, Akane heard a soft moan. She paused and leaned back. Tilting her head, she tried to push through the thick fog shrouding her thoughts. _That sound should mean something_, she thought with a frown. Faintly in her mind she felt something clawing for her attention, yelling at her to, '_Get up_!'

_How strange,_ Akane thought with a brief spark of worry that was quickly extinguished by the beauty of the pearls, which smothered her thoughts under a blanket of tranquility. _They needed her; that was the only thing she should focus on. _ Akane needed to help them, to soothe their hunger. She just needed to know how. _Could it really be as simple as putting them around her neck?_ Something inside her rebelled at the thought of putting them on. Maybe she was misunderstanding? Leaning forward, she tried to listen harder.

However, it was difficult to hear them through the renewed yowling of the chorus in her head. Akane's tranquility, a foreign emotion to begin with, slipped. The mental berating was annoying, both irritating and supremely familiar, yet she couldn't identify it because she was too distracted trying to help the pearls and it wouldn't _shut up_. Annoyance gave way to anger and Akane gave in to instinct.

"Baka!" Akane snapped aloud right before slapping _herself _across the face. The force knocked her body off balance and twisted it to the side, where she caught herself one-handed right before face planting onto the floor.

Shocked, both cheek and hand stinging, Akane found herself looking at the legs of the two bloody guards sprawled unconscious on the floor several feet away. She felt utterly confused, her thoughts muddled. _What just happened? _The last few minutes were fuzzy in her mind.

Feeling woozy, Akane put her other hand down on the floor to steady herself. _I must have lost more blood than I thought. Wait a minute…._ Akane slowly looked down. _Earlier, the floor was tacky from all of the blood spatters, _she thought as she flexed her fingers against the smooth wood in confusion,_ but now it's clean_. All of the blood was gone.

Closing her eyes, Akane forced herself to breath through the weight of fear sitting on her chest. Faintly she heard a soft scraping sound, but she ignored it. Slowly her memory of the last few minutes seeped into the forefront of her mind and solidified into a burning realization: the necklace was evil. _She had to get away from it. Now._

Keeping her head turned away, Akane opened her eyes and rocked forward. However, before she could complete the motion she saw something that forced her to jerk to a stop. On the previously bare floorboard directly in front of her knees sat the glistening pearls. _Had they somehow moved while her eyes were closed? _

_That's not normal_, she thought with a bubble of hysteria. Akane tried to scramble back but… suddenly she lost all motivation to move. Deep in her mind a masculine voice swore sharply before being muffled.

Really, she was being silly. The necklace was so beautiful and she was used to lots of not-normal things, like people changing shape when hit by water. Not normal could be interesting, and the beads looked so intriguing with those little forms swimming in each one that she really needed to pick the necklace up right now and put it on. Details didn't matter, so she should stop thinking about it. Why were her hands fisted into her skirt anyways? She couldn't remember. One finger at a time she began relaxing her white-knuckled grip.

Unexpectedly, she heard a feminine whimper needle through the air. It pierced through the wool muffling her thoughts. Then a hoarse voice painfully whispered, "'Ka…ne…." It stabbed straight through her head and down to her heart. "Akane," called the voice again, sounding plaintive, demanding, and a little bit angry.

The thoughts encouraging her to put on the necklace became faint, smothered by her heart's billowing cry, "Ranma!" _She had to get to Ranma._ Physically wrenching her head away, Akane resisted the painful force sucking at her mind. Scrambling clumsily to her feet, she staggered to the redhead's side and dropped to her knees.

Panting as if she'd just sprinted across town instead of across the room, Akane felt exhausted. She didn't think she had the energy to stand back up, much less escape the hypnotic necklace one more time. All she wanted to do was collapse into Ranko's arms and let the redhead save the day.

So far, it had been a really crappy day.

As she looked down at Ranko, Akane saw the pale-faced redhead try to come up onto her elbows before collapsing back down onto her back when she didn't have the strength to support herself. Her deep blue eyes blinked, struggling sluggishly to stay open against the pull of the drugs still circulating in her body. Akane felt her hopes wither into a brittle ball and die.

Slowly breathing in against the panic pounding through her chest, Akane accepted that she really would have to get both of them out of here by herself. If she had more energy she might have cried. Instead, she bit her lip and promised silently that the second she had enough energy to stand up, she'd grab Ranko and escape out the window.

Putting on a good face, she leaned over Ranko so the girl could see her better. Immediately, Ranko focused on Akane's face. "You," crinkling her brow, Ranko asked hesitantly, "you're really here?"

"'Course I am," Akane answered, bemused by the unexpected question. Something vulnerable softened the curve of Ranko's lips, and Akane felt another piece of her heart surrender.

A moment later, she felt Ranko's hot hand slide slowly across her forearm and up her palm to intertwine their fingers. A wave of tingling warmth swept up her arm, swirled through her chest, and across her body. Ranko's clasp tightened and Akane's whole body relaxed. "Good," Ranko breathed with satisfaction.

Licking chapped lips, Ranko's brows abruptly furrowed as she asked, "Wait, are you okay? Did they hurt you?"

All of the horrible things Akane had experienced since waking up flashed through her mind, but… "I'm fine," Akane lied with a straight face as she pushed several flame-red strands of hair out of Ranko's eyes. The other girl suddenly looked too pale. "I'm a martial artist too, you know." The oft-repeated defense covered a multitude of omissions that the pigtailed martial artist did not need to know about in her condition. "Besides, you're the one lying on the floor like a damsel in distress, not me," Akane mocked.

"Hey," Ranko protested, "I ain't no-" then she unexpectedly stopped, a look of concentration appearing on her face as she glanced to the side. Then her eyes snapped up and bored straight into Akane's. "You need to escape," she urged. After delivering this command, Ranko's long red eyelashes slammed shut.

A split second later, Akane felt Ranko's hand become like molten lead within her grasp. She gasped in shock and jerked as she felt burning fingers slip underneath the surface of her skin. They smoothed quickly up her veins and plunged deep into the ventricles of her heart. Akane's perception convulsed and exploded in gold sparks.

Then her vision cleared. Suddenly, Akane felt full of strength and mental clarity. A shocked look down showed Ranko's hand still whole and clasping hers, if anything a little cooler than usual. She didn't understand it, but she knew what she had to do. Akane had to get them both out of here.

Standing up, Akane decided to try the door, which was locked from the inside. Barely cracking it open, she peeked out into the hallway. A guard dressed in black and purple ambled down the corridor. Swiftly but silently she closed the door and turned the lock.

_Option two then_, she thought bracingly, _the window._ Grabbing the rope of sashes she had knotted together earlier, Akane looped it over her shoulder. Then she crouched down and picked up Ranko. Staggering to her feet, Akane felt grateful that Ranma was in his lighter girl-form right now. He might have been too big as a boy for her to run with.

Akane was very careful not to look at the other side of the room or anywhere near the floor for fear of catching another glimpse of the necklace. Despite her fear, she felt a tickling temptation to look anyways. Only the solid weight of Ranko in her arms kept her focused.

Once at the window, Akane sighed gratefully at the view. They were on the ground floor, so it wouldn't be hard to climb down. The scraggly grass was only about four feet below the windowsill. Grunting softly, Akane maneuvered Ranko's feet out the window and slowly started lowering her body.

As she stepped closer to the wall in preparation to pushing Ranko's chest and shoulders out the window, Akane felt her foot come down on something round. Her ankle rolled. Akane's grip on Ranko's body slipped. An involuntary cry escaped Akane's lips as she stumbled and started to fall. Her knee thudded painfully hard into the wooden floor and she felt the skin split with a painful zing.

For a brief second she glimpsed white pearls before something jerked up hard on the back of her shirt. The force twisted her body up and around, causing her shirt to ride up in a chokehold around her neck. Flailing and unable to breath, Akane caught hold of the windowsill. With her other hand, she reached back and grabbed at whatever was holding her. Untwisting herself, she took a deep breath of sweet oxygen. Then, surprised, she realized that she had Ranko's arm wound into the back of her shirt. It must have somehow gotten caught when she fell. _Even unconscious, Ranma was still saving her._

Freeing Ranko's arm, Akane let her drop out the window. She didn't have time to be more careful. They just had to get _away_! Ignoring the renewed pain flaring in her side, and now her neck and knee, Akane hopped up and straddled the window frame.

Looking down, she saw directly below her dangling leg the shimmering pearl necklace. A scarlet drop of blood plopped off her wounded knee and onto the floor. The blood then slurped across the floor into the necklace and disappeared.

Akane felt a jolt. She needed to go back for the necklace, follow the call like her blood had… except the momentum from her swing was already taking her out the window. Distracted and uncontrolled, she tipped out the window and smashed down onto Ranko's unconscious body.

Suppressing a groan, Akane untangled their limbs. They both had more bruises, but she was just thankful that they were out of that room. Their guards were unconscious and the necklace hadn't possessed either of them. Akane counted that as a win.

Taking a deep breath, she threw Ranko over her shoulder. Skirting the walls of the building where the shadows were deepest, she moved towards the river. It might be quicker to cut across the courtyard, but it felt too open. If they were seen, Akane didn't think she could run fast enough to avoid being recaptured.

As she looked down the wall of the building, she counted five windows that had to be crossed. Luckily, they were all closed. Nevertheless, she did her best to move as silently as possible. At each window, she made sure to stoop down farther so that their bodies stayed below the window ledge.

Almost to the end of the building, Akane suddenly heard the scrape of a window opening above her head. Immediately she crouched down and froze. _They were so close!_

Through the open window barely a foot above her she could hear two men talking. "Stop worrying about it," a bass voice growled loudly with annoyance. Akane pressed Ranko closer against the wall.

"But haven't you noticed the difference?" a tenor voice asked. His voice sounded quieter. Most likely he was farther from the open window.

"The Captain is still the same where it counts," the grumpy soldier argued.

Akane heard the other man snort. "He's calling himself the Prophet now, what about that?"

"I don't care what he calls himself as long as he's still fighting for the freedom of the Ryukyu Islands." A strange squelching sound echoed out the window, followed by a slurp. "Okinawa has been polluted too long by foreign filth. First the Chinese, then the Japanese, and now even those filthy Americans. This time we might finally have a weapon powerful enough to get rid of them all!"

"I'm not arguing about that," Akane heard the tenor reply with frustration. A second later she flinched as a peach pit came sailing out of the window and over her head to land in the yard with a thud. "You know that my hatred of them is as strong as yours! It's just that- it's a demon! Whatever it needs pure female warriors for… you know it can't be good. How do we know it will really help us? That it can even be trusted?"

As Akane reeled from what she had just heard, a _demon_, the other man sighed loudly. "What other choice do we have? Nothing else has worked. You need to trust in the Captain, or rather, the Prophet."

"I know, I know," his friend replied, and then clapped his hands together. "But all of this waiting is driving me crazy."

"Well, whadda ya say we go and harass the guys on kitchen duty, or maybe even the female prisoners? That could be fun." Laughing gustily, he closed the window.

Out of the blue, the words '_Saotome secret technique'_ rang though Akane's mind, almost as if Ranma had shouted them. Yes, running away right now seemed like a very good idea. If she didn't hurry, they might notice missing prisoners or find the two unconscious soldiers. Once the alarm sounded it would be harder to get away. Knowing that a demon was connected to all of this made her even more determined to escape.

Firming her lips, Akane adjusted Ranko more securely onto her shoulder. Then she ran as quickly as possible to the open riverbank. On the opposite shore stood verdant jungle trees, but this bank must have been cleared of vegetation by the soldiers. The river was their best option to escape, never mind that she couldn't swim or that Ranko was unconscious. It had to be done, so she would do it.

Akane quickly swung Ranko's body around so that the girl rested flush against her back. In this position Ranko's legs hung loosely around Akane's waist. After making sure that she could still move relatively freely, Akane tied Ranko to her body with the sashes.

Then she stepped into the cool water… and promptly slipped. Her face went under and Akane choked. Surging to her feet, Akane coughed salty water out of her nose and lungs. As soon as she could breath, she frantically put her hand back to check on Ranko. The unconscious girl coughed a few times, but didn't wake up. All of Akane's cuts stung fiercely in the salty river water, but it was too late to back out.

Fiercely suppressing her misgivings, Akane examined the riverbank for options. A few feet away sat a pile of tangled driftwood. Splashing over as quietly as possible, Akane yanked out a large log. Immediately one end moved away from shore and started drifting downstream. Before it could get away, Akane flung her arms over it and wedged her fingers into a split in the wood. Water lapped at her chin, teasing her with how close she was to drowning. Kicking her fears to the side, Akane focused on the fact that she could still breathe and that Ranko's head was staying above the water. Additionally, she tried to find comfort in the fact that the log would camouflage their bodies from pursuers.

Taking reassurance and strength from the warm body pressed against her back, Akane kicked her feet, sending them into deeper water. The current quickly caught them and swept them downstream. She needed to get away from the soldiers, the evil necklace that drank her blood and hypnotized her mind, and potentially a demon. But more importantly, and what Akane was focusing on, Ranko needed help. Akane would not let her down. _She wouldn't._

-To Be Continued-

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Author Note: Thank you for reading! Sorry this chapter took a while. Please leave me a review to let me know what you think will/should happen next, and if I made any errors. Your comments inspire me to write faster.

Next chapter – Ranma wakes up!


	6. Frog Princes and Filthy Caves

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and its characters do not belong to me. Boo.

AN: Thanks for reading and reviewing! Ranma's female form is 'Ranko.'

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**No more pussyfooting around**: a Ranma ½ fanfic

By Indygodusk

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**Chapter 6: Frog Princes and Filthy Caves**

_Taking reassurance and strength from the warm body pressed against her back, Akane kicked her feet, sending them into deeper water. The current quickly caught them and swept them downstream. She needed to get away from the soldiers, the evil necklace that drank her blood and hypnotized her mind, and potentially a demon. But more importantly, and what Akane was focusing on, Ranko needed help. Akane would not let her down. She wouldn't. _

Water splashed intermittently across Akane's face, making it hard to anticipate when to hold her breath. Another cough racked her frame. Her hands clutched the log so tightly that imbedded splinters peppered her fingers like spices on meat. Akane was trying very hard not to panic too badly.

It was too much to ask her not to panic at all.

If only she could swim, or didn't have an unconscious Ranko strapped to her back, or perhaps if a lifeguard crouched on the bank of the river, ready to swan in and save her at the mere hint of drowning. Maybe then she might feel calm and collected. As it was, she teetered on the edge of flailing to a certain death. Stretching her neck as far above the water as possible, Akane spit out another mouthful of water. She wondered how far she needed to go before safely leaving the river.

As they floated around a gentle bend in the river, Akane took to examining the verdant jungle hovering on either side to distract herself. Up ahead, Akane noticed a black and yellow striped snake basking on a rocky outcrop. Its vivid, aposematic coloring warned predators that this meal would not only taste bad, it might poison you.

Readjusting her grip on the slippery log, Akane wondered if she should invest in some dangerous-looking clothing herself. Nothing else she did seemed to work to ward off the overly amorous suitors and kidnappings. Then again, any change in wardrobe would be sure to attract mockery from Ranma. Huffing, Akane just hoped that they'd both survive this adventure to bicker once again. In fact, she'd look forward to arguing with him.

"If you would just wake up," Akane offered beseechingly, "I'd let you say anything you liked about me. No matter what the insult," she paused to cough out another mouthful of water, "I wouldn't even get angry." For a second Akane sensed Ranko shifting against her back and felt her hopes rise, but it was merely a wave of water pushing against Ranko's body.

Passing down the river, Akane saw other streams pouring into the central channel she floated down. A stunning, three-tiered waterfall sent sprays of water into the air to form a mist of scintillating rainbows. Although beautiful, the waterfall also worried Akane. If her log went over one, she would probably fall off and drown them both. _Just one more way to die on this adventure_, she thought with black cheer.

Trying to chase away her morose thoughts, she returned to examining the jungle. Deeper in the shadows of the trees she occasionally noticed the outline of larger animals stalking through the underbrush. Despite squinting, she was too far away to identify them. Above their shadows, high in the canopy, swayed vines bedecked in frilled fuchsia and apricot-colored flowers.

Over the river hung large green fronds that fluttered in the breeze. Along the central stem she occasionally noticed a tightly clinging frog. They had large black eyes, white bellies, and greenish-brown spots along their backs and down their noses. She thought them rather adorable.

When passing directly underneath, she could hear their chirping mating calls. The sound didn't fill Akane with any romantic urgings, but then again, she wasn't a female frog. Moreover, she wasn't looking to meet any more princes. She'd been kidnapped enough times already, thank you very much. Princes weren't all they were cracked up to be.

All too soon the sun sank low in the western sky, washing it with the faded denim color that heralded afternoon's tumble into evening. Soon the sky would pale into the reddish-gold of sunset. Akane knew that she needed to get out of the river before full dark. How she'd accomplish that from the center of a river with banks far above her head, she didn't know. She just would.

Another bend in the river passed, and Akane suddenly caught sight of something straight out of a nature documentary. This part of the river stood in deep shadow. Delicately making its way across a rotting log slanting down into the river paced a small, patterned, light brown cat. Stopping midway down the log, it peered down and dangled one clawed limb out over the water.

_Fishing_? Akane wondered as she noted the dark spots and stripes banding its back. A relatively short, bushy tail twitched lazily above its crouching body. White lines traced along each eye, with two more arching above its nose and over its forehead. As she drifted closer, the wildcat remained oblivious to her presence.

All of a sudden, Akane realized where she'd seen a cat like this before… her middle-school textbook! She was looking at an Iriomote cat, the only native feline in Japan! Akane remembered learning that fewer than 100 cats existed in the wild. They tottered on the verge of extinction. Well, at least now she knew exactly where she was in Okinawa: Iriomote Island. Unfortunately, she also remembered that most of the island was covered in thick jungle with barely any settlements. Help would not be easy to find.

Soon her log came within thirty feet of the Iriomote cat's perch. Tilting its ears, it looked up curiously and focused its gaze on Ranko. Its tail twitched back and forth in a faster rhythm, but otherwise it didn't seem very alarmed by the approaching humans.

However, when the cat's eyes drifted to Akane's face, it abruptly reared back and hissed, revealing sharp fangs. Racing to the very tip of the overhanging log, it poised itself as if to leap off to attack her when she came close enough. Its small but razor sharp claws glinted threateningly. Each second brought her log closer and closer to the vicious-looking cat. Akane's blood ran cold.

If the cat attacked, scratching Akane's face and arms bloody, she would almost certainly lose her grip on the log and drown both Ranko and herself. Yellow-gold eyes bored into Akane's. The log drifted closer. The jungle seemed to hold its breath. Abruptly, the cat thrust its head to the sky and yowled so unexpectedly loud that it blasted Akane's eardrums.

Pulse jumping, Akane tried to instinctively jerk away from the threat, but there was nowhere to go. Her grip slipped from its perch and started skidding over the slimy log. One fingernail snapped off with a white-hot bolt of pain. Akane panicked and tried to gasp.

It was almost a fatal mistake.

Water poured into her mouth, up her nose, and down her throat. Bubbling foam blinded her eyes. Akane choked, unable to breathe. Her body plunged farther under the water. She felt death hovering with outspread arms, just waiting to catch them, anticipating.

Scrabbling fingers finally caught on a knot in the wood, halting her slide with a violent jerk. Jamming her remaining fingernails into the log, Akane surged forward until her nose cleared the water. Biceps burning, Akane coughed with her mouth closed, trying to clear her lungs. Nausea and dizziness sloshed across her body. Breathing haltingly through her nose, her mouth still submerged, Akane slowly clawed her way back up the log, inch by inch. Ranko's weight on her back compressed her lungs. This made it even harder to draw in air.

Finally, Akane's mouth cleared the surface of the water. She tried to take a deep breath, but immediately began hacking up water and spittle. Several moments later she at last took a full breath.

Then she thought of Ranko. She couldn't tell if Ranko was breathing or not. The girl felt like a dead weight on Akane's back. _Bad choice of words,_ Akane thought hysterically. _Ranma can't be dead!_

Opening burning eyes, Akane saw the growling cat crouching barely ten feet away. Its slit-pupil eyes seemed to burn with malevolence. An almost defeated whimper escaped Akane's lips. Forcing Ranko's condition from her mind, Akane began frantically kicking her legs. The water flowed leisurely around the bend in the river, bringing them slowly closer. Incrementally, her kicking pushed the log away from the cat. Akane feared that it wouldn't be far enough.

As they swept past the cat, Akane braced herself for tearing claws. Instead, she heard an enraged howl. _They'd escaped_! A new current soon caught them and the log picked up speed.

Unfortunately, her jubilation was quickly cut short. The Iriomote cat hadn't given up. Instead, it paced them along the left riverbank. Her heart plummeted when two more, even larger cats joined it. Akane wanted to howl with frustration.

She needed to stop and check to see if Ranko was breathing. Yet she couldn't land on the left bank as long as they threatened. Trembling and burning muscles also warned her that if she didn't stop soon, the cats would be a moot point. Her arms would give out and they'd drown.

The right bank offered no solution. The steep and high rock face looked impossible to scale in her condition. No matter where she looked, it seemed hopeless.

Then God took pity on her. The river forked several meters ahead. Firming her lips, Akane kicked them towards the right fork and away from the cats on the bank. It took a moment for her unwieldy log to move, but slowly it drifted to the right. Soon they left the angry cats behind, stuck on the opposite shore.

"We escaped, but you better stay with me, Ranma," Akane pleaded. "I need you…."

At first, both sides of the river had steep, rocky banks too high to reach. Desperately, Akane searched for somewhere to stop. Nothing caught her attention.

As she passed the place where another river intersected the one she currently floated down, Akane noticed that the taste of the water became saltier. In fact, the briny taste of the river water made her faintly nauseous. Unfortunately, spitting didn't help get rid of the flavor after the first dozen mouthfuls.

Now she could identify intermittent patches of mangrove trees with their stilt-like roots arching above the surface of the water. Brown patterned fish and silvery gray shrimp darted through their multi-forked roots like cars traversing the busy city streets of a metropolis. The current down the river slowed. Roots now blocked her access to the shore.

Finally, a few minutes later, the left bank began to slope down closer to the river and the mangrove trees became scarcer. The current picked up as once again a new river poured in. The bank flattened out at the same time. Calling on her last reserves of strength, Akane kicked them towards the shore.

When her toes first brushed the ground, she thought it wishful thinking. Then her feet found a solid hold and Akane realized that she'd made it. A relieved sob escaped her throat.

Seconds later she pried her stiff fingers from the log and waded forward towards land. She paid the log no heed as it swept quickly out of sight. Instead, she stumbled and crawled up onto the muddy bank. Tufts of yellow-green grass, patches of moss, and bits of rock provided friction for her climb. When her feet had fully escaped the river's grasp, she let her body finally collapse to the earth. For a moment, she merely pressed her cheek against the ground and gratefully breathed in the smell of dirt.

However, Ranko's sodden weight caused her euphoria to quickly pass. Rolling over onto her side, she began prying at the knots holding Ranko to her back. The sashes had swelled with river water, making them difficult to untie. Grimly she forced her tired fingers to tease apart the strands. After a few moments, her efforts paid off and the knots came loose. Where the bands had bit into her flesh remained long purple bruises. Ranko slid off her back and flopped onto the ground.

Now that the moment of truth had come, Akane almost froze. She didn't want to look. Almost twenty minutes had passed since they'd both gone underwater. Akane was scared. This fear felt more suffocating than the water that had poured down her throat when she'd almost drown.

Gathering her courage, Akane rolled over and sat up. Ranko's saturated scarlet hair appeared brown against her pale skin. _The color of dried blood_, Akane thought morbidly. Ranko's chest didn't look like it was moving either.

Reaching out a trembling hand, Akane placed her fingers against Ranko's neck and felt for a pulse. Her torn fingers left clots of blood and mud along Ranko's pallid skin. Not breathing, Akane waited and hoped.

She couldn't feel anything.

The pressure built painfully behind Akane's eyes. A tear escaped, dripping down off her cheek to plop onto the seam of Ranko's chapped lips, disappearing inside. Adjusting her sore fingers, Akane took a shallow breath and pressed harder against Ranko's carotid artery.

_But there!_ She felt something. _Ranma had a pulse!_ Leaning her head directly over Ranko's lips, Akane felt puffs of air caressing her cheek as the redhead breathed. _Ranma lived! _Delighted and slightly hysterical laughter poured from Akane's lips as she draped herself over Ranko's body.

Several minutes passed before Akane found the strength to sit up. Looking around, she saw a shallow cave in the embankment about twenty feet away. It took her three tries to successfully stumble to her feet.

Once up, she went over to inspect the cave for animals. She found a few gnawed on bones in the corner, but nothing else indicating that it housed a predator. The cave itself only went in about seven or eight feet, but it was enough to shelter them for the night.

On the opposite side of the cave entrance trickled a small stream that fed into the river. Akane licked her salt-crusted lips and stepped forward. Despite being soaked, she felt thirsty and wanted to rinse off her face. Kneeling down, she cupped a bit of water in her hands and cautiously sipped.

Although the water had a strangely herbal taste, it wasn't salty or brackish. Relief washed through her body. She'd worry about dangerous bacteria later. Lying down on her stomach, Akane placed her lips against the trickle and sipped directly from the stream. After drinking her fill, she rinsed salt and mud off her face and arms.

Feeling slightly renewed, Akane got up and went back for Ranko. Hitching the girl up under the arms, Akane dragged Ranko over to the stream. Then she carefully washed off the salt and mud crusting Ranko's face and eyelashes. Propping Ranko up on one thigh, Akane trickled a handful of water into her mouth while massaging her throat. Ranko coughed out the water.

"C'mon Ranma, you need to drink after that salt water," Akane ordered. Tilting Ranko's head, she tried again. This time, Ranko swallowed. "That's right, good boy." A weary smile curved Akane's lips. "Just a little bit more," she coaxed. After a few more handfuls, Ranko turned her head away, but didn't wake. In the bronze light of the setting sun, Akane could see color returning to Ranko's cheeks.

Taking that as a sign that things would work out, Akane decided to take a well-deserved rest. First though, she reached over and wrung as much water as possible from Ranko's clothes. Next she did her best to squeeze out her own.

Finally done, she wearily picked up Ranko and dragged her into the cave. Then she rested Ranko gently against the wall of reddish-brown stone. Already Ranko's breathing seemed stronger.

Work done, Akane stumbled only a few feet away before letting herself collapse onto the hard ground. Everything ached. If asked, she wouldn't be able to point to a single inch of skin free from cuts, scrapes, or bruises. Despite the mild temperature, her wet clothes and hair seemed to suck the heat from her body, leaving her chilled. For a second she feared that the pain and discomfort would keep her awake, but weariness proved stronger. Sleep quickly dragged her into oblivion.

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Upon first waking, Ranma kept his eyes closed and assessed his surroundings. His clothing felt damp (nothing unusual there) and his limbs were free of restraints (more unusual than he'd prefer). The slight headache and strange chemical taste coating his throat suggested that someone had drugged him again.

Listening carefully, he noticed that the sound quality seemed off, not matching anywhere in Nerima or even Tokyo. He heard the rushing of a river, the susurration of leaves in the wind, and the chorusing of insects. He couldn't name the species, but Ranma had slept outside often enough in his life to match the pattern of animal sounds with the hours preceding first light.

To Ranma's right, someone breathed with a slight rasp. It sounded like sleep, but he couldn't be sure. Surreptitiously tensing and relaxing his muscles, Ranma also realized that he'd woken up as a _she_ again.

Slowly opening her eyes, Ranma found herself in a dimly lit cave. Tilting her head to the side allowed her to quietly view the source of the rasping breaths. It took Ranma a moment to identify the bedraggled form curled up on the cave floor as Akane. When she did, Ranma quickly crawled over.

Ranma's eyes couldn't make out much detail in the pre-dawn light, but Akane's body language looked cold and unhappy. Barely seen scratches marred the skin Ranma could see, and her clothing looked damp and filthy. Akane was alive, no thanks to Ranma, but nothing else good could be said about her condition.

Ranma's lips tilted down unhappily as she searched the shallow cave for a blanket for Akane. The temperature felt like somewhere around sixty-five degrees, but their damp clothing made it seem colder. Unfortunately, Ranma only saw dimly lit reddish rocks and packed earth. If the shadows hid anything useful, Ranma couldn't see it. Standing up, Ranma undid her puzzle belt and stripped off her slightly damp outer shirt to drape over Akane.

Right now it was the best that Ranma could do. As usual, it wasn't anywhere near as good as Akane deserved. Smoothing a few dark strands of hair gently off Akane's forehead, Ranma tucked them behind the delicate shell of her ear before standing up.

Ranma wanted to wake Akane up to find out how they'd gotten here, wherever here was, but Akane looked like she needed sleep more than Ranma needed questions answered. Shivering in her dingy white tank top, Ranma tried to brush dried sand out of her cleavage as she padded quietly out of the cave. She felt filthy, thirsty, and about to pop from the pressure in her bladder. Besides, Ranma wasn't going to be able to impress Akane just by sitting there. Time to step up and be a hero.

[To be continued]

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AN: The next chapter is mostly Ranma's POV. Please point out any mistakes I made or things you liked.

Sneak peak:_ Ranma had suavely invited Akane, diverted the other fiancées, and sidetracked his rivals. They'd successfully made it to Okinawa alone, and Akane had almost caused him to spontaneously combust when she'd eaten that juicy peach in the marketplace. This had been Ranma's chance to discover if Akane really loved him, or if all she felt was friendship and pity. Ranma had finally gathered the courage to talk about feelings. No more runaround. _

_Because if Akane did love him, if she really needed him even a tenth as much as Ranma needed her, he could finally confess to her how utterly lost he'd be without her, how essential she was to his happiness, to his very sanity. That this bundle of overwhelming emotions that all centered on her might be what the poets and priests called love…._


	7. The Importance of Being Useful

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and its characters do not belong to me. Woe is me.

AN: Thanks for your inspiring reviews! Pronouns are exceedingly difficult to keep straight with Ranma. He thinks like a man, but sometimes has the body of a girl. Bear that in mind when I switch back and forth (and tell me if the use of "he" or "she" gets too confusing).

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**No more pussyfooting around**: a Ranma ½ fanfic

By Indygodusk

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**Chapter 7: The Importance of Being Useful**

_Ranma wanted to wake Akane up to find out how they'd gotten here, wherever here was, but Akane looked like she needed sleep more than Ranma needed questions answered. Shivering in her dingy white tank top, Ranma tried to brush dried sand out of her cleavage as she padded quietly out of the cave. She felt filthy, thirsty, and about to pop from the pressure in her bladder. Besides, Ranma wasn't going to be able to impress Akane just by sitting here. Time to step up and be a hero._

Grimacing at having to pee as a girl, Ranko moved into the fringes of the shadowy jungle. The sun hadn't risen yet, but the wash of light from the horizon hinted that it wouldn't be long. After taking care of business, she went to the river to rinse her hands off and then took a big mouthful of water.

At the slightly salty taste, she promptly spit it back out. "Blech!" Ranko exclaimed loudly before glancing guiltily towards the cave mouth housing Akane. Dead to the world, Akane didn't stir.

Investigating the shore, Ranko quickly found a stream of fresh water trickling near the cave. After waiting for a whip-tailed black lizard with bright yellow racing stripes to scurry back into the jungle, Ranko knelt by the small stream. Quickly she gulped down several mouthfuls.

Then she tried to follow the stream back to a point where the water became deeper. However, Ranko hadn't gone very far into the jungle before it got too dark to see clearly. The canopy blocked too much of the predawn light. Scratching her stomach, Ranko backtracked a bit until she could clearly see any approaching threats, like poisonous snakes or kidnapping mercenaries. _Besides which_, Ranko thought, _you shouldn't go too far away from Akane._

Although the stream was little more than a foot deep, Ranko was determined to get her bath. Stripping down, she washed the grittiness off her skin as best she could. By the time she finished, the jungle had gotten lighter. Ranko wrinkled her nose at getting redressed in her filthy clothing, but it couldn't be helped.

As she walked back through the slowly lightening jungle, Ranko noticed several orange fruits. She recognized them as edible from her training trips with Pops. Plucking an armful only took a moment. She immediately devoured six of them. The remaining four she bundled into a large, emerald-green palm frond for Akane's breakfast.

Walking, she noticed a spiky green shrub. At the center protruded something strongly resembling a pineapple. Considering Principal Kuno's fetish, Ranko felt pretty confident in her identification. However, a large web, glittering with morning dew, covered most of the bush. A rodent the size of Ranko's hand lay wrapped in one corner of the web. As she watched, a swarm of albino baby spiders poured out from the shadows of the bush to envelop and consume the rodent. Gulping at their multifaceted eyes and chittering jaws, she decided to leave the pineapple alone.

Beneath the stream's surface flickered light brown fish. She was tempted to catch some of the fish for breakfast too, but she didn't recognize any that she knew for certain were safe to eat. If she'd been by herself, she might have tried them anyways. After all, Akane's cooking had tempered Ranma's cast iron stomach.

However, Ranma wouldn't risk poisoning Akane herself. Sure Ranma wanted to avoid hurting Akane, but there was a bigger reason. If Ranma's cooking poisoned Akane, Ranma would never live it down. Every time Akane cooked something in the future, she'd trot out the incident to guilt him into eating her 'experiments.'

After picking up the hollowed out shell of a gourd from the ground, Ranko took it to the river. Rinsing it out a few times, she filled it for Akane. Looking at the meager offering of water and fruit, she wondered what Akane would think. Whatever Akane's thoughts, she'd probably bite her tongue and be nice about it unless Ranko provoked her. After all, Akane always took care not to kick a guy when he was down. Feeling slightly dejected at how useless her efforts were proving to be, Ranko continued walking.

Reaching the cave, Ranko momentarily forgot her self-pity as the sunrise forced her to pause in admiration. The liquid bronze sphere rose slowly to shimmer triumphantly above the lush green jungle canopy, signally the changing of the guard as nocturnal animals retreated to their dens and daytime predators roused for a day of hunting. _Akane would appreciate seeing this_, she thought. Anxious to share it with her, and to examine Akane for injury in the morning sunlight, Ranko ducked into the cave mouth.

Unfortunately, she immediately realized that the cave faced west, leaving Akane's body drenched in shadows. Nevertheless, she took a moment to visually trace what she could see of Akane's body. As Ranma's eyes lingered for a moment on Akane's slightly parted lips, Akane shivered. Shifting, Akane curled more tightly underneath Ranma's shirt. _Was she still cold?_

For a moment, Ranko wondered what Akane would do if Ranma curled around her back to share a little body heat. Biting her lip, she shook her head. _Who was she kidding_? Ranko didn't have to wonder; she knew exactly what Akane would do. Akane would punch Ranko out into the river, throw the shirt out after her, and mutter about perverts while suffering in silence. Ranko sighed.

_That girl has too much pride sometimes_, she thought. Ignoring the Akane-like voice in her head whispering about pots and kettles, Ranko put her meager offerings down near the mouth of the cave. Then, clenching her fists in dissatisfaction, she decided to sit sentinel in front of the cave until Akane woke up.

Sitting still, however, brought all of Ranko's disappointments bubbling to the surface of her mind. They'd not only gotten kidnapped again, but this time Ranma had slept through it all and made Akane rescue them both. Propping her chin on one fist, Ranko sighed gustily.

Why leave Akane guessing at his usefulness when he could just prove how much she really didn't need him?

For months after the last failed wedding, Ranma had been convinced that Akane had only agreed to it out of friendship. A blush stole across Ranma's cheeks as the oft-contemplated picture of how lovely Akane had looked in that white western wedding dress sauntered once again into the forefront of his mind. But of course, Akane had only wanted to help him end his curse by getting the promised water from the spring-of-drowned-boy. Akane liked him, but didn't love him. He'd been almost sure of it.

Why would she when he couldn't prove his usefulness? He'd almost gotten her _killed_ for heaven's sake. Ranma wanted her, he'd known that for a long time, but since Akane didn't really want him, he'd take what time with her he could get.

In the meantime, he did his best to continue denying and suppressing his feelings for Akane. Ranma also continued the fiancée/rival whirl since he couldn't have what he really wanted instead. Besides which, Ranma thought with a smirk, most of the time he enjoyed the craziness and attention.

It was only months later, when he let himself notice and appreciate Akane trying so hard to control her temper around him, that Ranma began fixating on how Akane had questioned his words of love at Jusendo. He'd denied saying it, just as he always did when questions of feelings came up, but that exchange had come to torment him.

At the time, Ranma had thought she'd merely wanted to make him vulnerable so she could tease him. They'd always sparred as much with words as with fists. But what if he had answered differently? Would she really have mocked him? Or would she have confessed that she actually loved him too?

As Ranma angrily watched the river rush past, he thought that feeling this awful as a girl instead of a man just added insult to injury. Several months of careful planning had culminated in this trip to Okinawa, now spoiled. This was supposed to be his chance to discover Akane's true feelings where no one else could ruin it.

After learning of the Martial Arts Geometry Shrine, Ranma had carefully scrimped and saved for weeks before 'accidentally' letting his pops see the stash of money. When Genma had stolen the cash and gone gambling, Ranma had splashed himself with cold water, put on a disguise, and followed. His pops had walked right through the front of the pachinko parlor and into the smaller private room in the back. What happened next wasn't cheating, just keeping Genma's opponents distracted by a flash of cleavage, a plate of steaming pork buns, and a dropped "vintage" Star Wars action figure that had really come from a hamburger joint in China.

When Pops had stumbled home smelling of sake and singing show tunes, Ranma had pounced. Waiting until Akane's father, Soun, walked into the room, Ranma had called upon all his talents of dissembling. He'd picked a fight with his pops and between punches and blocks had demanded that the money be given back before Pops spent it on any more wedding ceremonies. Ranma had made sure to say the word "_wedding_" extra loud so Soun would pay attention.

Then Ranma had struck a dramatic pose and delivered the line he'd been practicing for weeks. "I don't care how _romantic_ Okinawa is, I'm going on a training trip alone." When they didn't immediately respond, Ranma's carefully rehearsed speech disappeared and he started babbling, "By myself… without any girlfriends… or fiancées." If Nabiki or Akane had been around, they would have noticed his obviously strange behavior. The fathers, however, seemed to remain oblivious to both his acting and his clues.

For a moment, Ranma had thought that he'd have to make up something about a magical muskmelon that made people fall in love if they ate it together. Pops passed out before Ranma could figure out how to start. Luckily, Soun finally caught on. Assuming his angry demon face, Soun demanded that Ranma take Akane with him on the trip to Okinawa. Or else.

After Ranma had cowered away (not as faked as he'd like to claim) and agreed, Soun relieved Genma of his winnings. As Genma's best friend, Soun knew not to trust him with keeping the money. After a token protest, Ranma escaped up to the roof and performed several exultant flips and spins. His plan had worked!

Not only that, but he'd suavely invited Akane, diverted the other fiancées (since Nabiki could no longer sell them timely tips), and sidetracked his rivals. They'd successfully made it to Okinawa alone, and Akane had almost caused him to spontaneously combust when she'd eaten that juicy peach in the marketplace.

This had been Ranma's best chance to discover if Akane really loved him, or if all she felt was friendship and pity. Ranma had finally gathered the courage to talk about _feelings_. No more runaround.

Because if Akane did love him, if she really needed him even a tenth as much as Ranma needed her, he could finally confess to her how utterly lost he'd be without her, how essential she was to his happiness, to his very sanity. That this bundle of overwhelming emotions that all centered on her might be what the poets and priests called love.

But instead, he'd merely gotten himself knocked out. From the looks of things, Akane had rescued _him_ (or rather _her_ at the moment). This just showcased how much Akane _didn't_ need him.

On the one hand, Ranma felt secretly proud of Akane, not that he could tell her that without it coming out wrong and sounding like an insult. He liked knowing that Akane could take care of herself, and him too when he needed it. Such things cemented his adoration of her and kept his hopes alive that she'd one day reciprocate. No matter the cost to herself, she always did her best to help him. Akane had come close to serious injury several times because of it. That quality in her both amazed and terrified Ranma.

On the other hand, Ranma resented the fact that he hadn't gotten to be the hero. Ranma lived for the thrill of the fight. He liked saving the day, liked facing challenges before wresting forth a victory. Most especially, he loved the peculiar look in Akane's eyes when he rescued her. Sometimes she'd act grateful, other times berating. No matter her tone of voice, though, Ranma always noticed something special flicker in her gaze. It was a look reserved just for him… he'd jealously checked. When rescued, that mysterious depth in her eyes always appeared to entice the voracious beast hidden deep inside Ranma's soul. One of these days his control was going to break and he'd do something very primitive where Akane was concerned.

Shaking away such thoughts, Ranma returned to the problem at hand. He could give Akane his fighting ability, his strength and cunning to swoop in and save the day. _But if she didn't need that, what could he give her? Why would she want to keep him around?_ The thought of making himself vulnerable by asking Akane that question gave him cold sweats and nausea.

Somehow, Ranma had to make himself useful. If Akane didn't find him useful, she wouldn't want to keep him around for very long, or even at all. She would lose interest and send him away, engagement notwithstanding. Even Akane's father couldn't force her to do something she didn't want to do. She'd proven that over and over. Being forced to leave Akane would break Ranma in ways that would make Ryoga at his worst seem like a ray of sunshine.

Although Ranma loved his parents, they were hard people. From them he'd learned more than just martial arts and manliness. He'd learned that no one would want you if you couldn't give them something, if you couldn't make yourself needed. That lesson had solidified at a very young age. His mother hadn't really needed Ranma or Genma around, so she'd let them disappear for years.

During their travels, Pops only needed people so long as they could give him something, like food or training. As soon as Genma got what he wanted, those people became useless to him. Then Pops had no compunction about breaking his promises and abandoning someone. Ranma had seen the reverse too, where people had traveled with them for a while until getting bored or annoyed. Then they'd be the ones leaving the Saotomes behind.

It had only taken a few years for Ranma to learn to stop getting attached to people and things. Ranma prided himself on being an expert at enjoying the moment, appreciating people while they were around, and not worrying about the future beyond the Art. He could happily make friends without feeling crippled when they left. Somehow though, Akane had avoided the defenses around his affection decreeing: _you may go this far but no further_.

Ranma clearly remembered the day that he had realized what had happened. He'd glanced out the window and seen Akane laughing with her friends in absolute delight, her head thrown back in abandon as sunlight danced across her joyous face. At that moment, something froze Ranma's breathing. Self-preservation slammed his eyes shut and dropped him to a crouch. Retreating inside the fortress of his mind, Ranma had thrown up every defense he had, locked every gate, but it was too late to shield himself. A bitter laugh had escaped his throat. Akane already resided _inside_ the rusty wall protecting his heart. It was too late.

As for all of Ranma's self-proclaimed fiancées, at least he understood their motivations. They wanted what Ranma could bring them. Shampoo wanted his fighting ability and genes for her tribe, and to redeem her honor after losing to an outsider. Ukyo wanted him as payment for her sacrifices, and to justify her quest for revenge by bringing him back to her family as proof that she was worthy of their respect. Women saw Ranma as something that would elevate their status. To them, he was a trophy to display, or some dangerous but tame pet that they could trot out for a thrill now and then. Kodachi in particular fell into the latter category.

Only Akane didn't see him like that. Occasionally she found his fighting ability useful, but she didn't seem to need it. She respected it, but didn't cling to it or to him. That made her unique, but also quite frustrating. In fact, Ranma sometimes thought that if Akane did cling a little bit, then this whole engagement thing would be a whole lot easier.

Akane could find a lot of men who would love to take over the dojo. She could find even more who would love to take on Akane.

Although Ranma himself could find someone else, he didn't want to. He only wanted Akane. And he wanted Akane to want Ranma the same way.

Ranma had to constantly prove his warrior spirit to his father, his manliness to his mother, and his fearlessness to his rivals. He had fought and triumphed against some of the strongest martial artists in the world. But if you took away his martial arts, what was left? Glancing back at the sounds of Akane rousing, Ranma wondered again- _what could I give Akane_?

Tugging hard on her red braid, Ranko growled underneath her breath and stood up. Ranko was used to feeling confident and competent. This uneasy emotional rollercoaster really sucked.

Stepping forward, she waited impatiently for Akane's eyelashes to lift. Ranko pasted a self-assured expression on her face for Akane, just in case. Maybe if she pretended hard enough, it would become truth.

A low moan escaped Akane's throat as her eyelids fluttered open and closed. Sitting up slowly, she winced and rubbed at her eyes. Ranma's shirt slipped off her shoulders to puddle over her bare calves. "There's no place like home, eh Toto?" she whispered huskily to herself as she lowered her hands and blinked groggily at the cave wall.

Confused, Ranko crouched down. "You okay, Akane?" she asked with concern. The lighting in the cave was just bright enough to make out Akane's facial expressions.

Immediately Akane's eyes jumped up to meet Ranko's worried gaze. A wide, relieved smile swept across her face, "Ranma! You're awake!" Reaching forward, Akane squeezed Ranko's hand warmly. "I was so worried when you wouldn't wake up."

Ranko felt her confident mask momentarily slip at the further evidence of her uselessness to Akane, but she quickly dredged up a cocky smirk. "Aw, you know nothing keeps me down for long. How 'bout you? Are you feeling okay?"

Staring into Akane's shadowed eyes, it took Ranko a moment to realize that her own fingers, without conscious direction, had threaded with Akane's into an intimate tangle. Blushing, Ranko broke their stare. Sliding her fingers regretfully out of Akane's warm palm, she stood up.

Akane hadn't answered yet, but Ranko felt compelled to break the charged silence. "I brought you some water and fruit," she gestured to the pile. "It's not much, but..." Ranko let her voice trail off.

"Oh," Akane sounded surprised. "Thank you." Looking down, she bunched her hand into the fabric resting over her legs. A small, secretive smile tilted Akane's lips as she continued, "And thanks for lending me your shirt." Standing up with a wince, she handed the shirt back to Ranko and hobbled over to the water.

As Akane took a sip from the gourd, Ranko quickly pulled the shirt back on over her ample chest and tucked it in beneath the puzzle belt. Watching Akane's stiff movements, Ranko frowned. "Sleeping on a cave floor can stiffen you right up," she commiserated to Akane as she pulled her red braid out of the collar of the shirt.

"Um, right," Akane agreed with an uneasy laugh. Not meeting Ranko's eyes, she began to peel one of the orange fruits. An uneasy prickling ran down Ranko's spine. _What was Akane hiding?_

"Hey Ranma," Akane began as she looked out of the cave towards the river. "Do you-," Akane abruptly stopped speaking with a gasp. Her eyes got so wide that Ranko could see the reflection of something looming over her own shoulder in Akane's pupils.

As Ranko started to spin around to face the threat, she heard Akane shriek, "Don't look, Ranma!"

_What was Akane, stupid? How was she supposed to protect Akane if she didn't face the enemy?_

Of course, a second later Ranko realized exactly why Akane had cried out. She'd realized how useless Ranko was going to be. Surrounding the cave were at least fifty vicious looking wildcats.

Ranko didn't have time to notice much beyond the cats' sharp claws, glistening fangs, and bristling fur. A high-pitched whimper involuntarily escaped her throat. The lead cat stalked forward towards the cave.

_I must protect Akane! I must-,_ Ranko screamed mentally in a bid to retain control, to be useful.

But it did her no good.

Sheer terror swamped Ranko's resolve and pushed away everything but the instinct to flee. Falling backwards in panic, her fingers scrabbled against the dusty floor of the cave as she frantically retreated to the back wall. Yowling filled her ears and echoed through the cave. Ranko's last sight before conscious thought swirled away down the drain of psychosis was of Akane - her skirt swishing above the dimpled backs of her knees as she stepped in front of Ranko's cowering body.

[**To be continued...**]

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_Author note:_ Look at my quick update! I was very inspired by all of the awesomely detailed reviews and good guesses on my future plot lines. I am also insanely curious to know what you think of Ranma in this chapter and my portrayal of him and his motivations, keeping in mind the biased narration of himself from his own POV. Please let me know! Also point out any mistakes or places that it got too confusing. I know I switched pronouns a few times on Ranma. Did it work? I still haven't bridged the gap to where I have future scenes written. Grr! But hopefully the next chapter will finally do it. Thanks for reading!


	8. It's a Cat Eat Cat World Out There

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and its characters do not belong to me.

AN: Why yes, I should be writing my dissertation right now…. _sigh_. Hopefully you'll all enjoy my efforts with this instead, and won't talk to my advisor about me. _(Looks guiltily at the full box of microscope slides that needed stereology __last__ semester.)

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**No more pussyfooting around**: a Ranma ½ fanfic

By Indygodusk

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**Chapter 8: It's a Cat Eat Cat World Out There**

_Sheer terror swamped Ranma's resolve and pushed away everything but the instinct to flee. Falling backwards in panic, Ranma's fingers scrabbled against the dusty floor of the cave as she frantically retreated to the back wall. Yowling filled her ears and echoed through the cave. Ranma's last sight before conscious thought swirled away down the drain of psychosis was of Akane - her skirt swishing above the dimpled backs of her knees as she stepped in front of Ranma's cowering body. _

"Ranma, you idiot, snap out of it!" Akane yelled. Although she knew that shouting at Ranma when she was like this never did any good, a small part of her still hoped. Maybe this time, she'd realize the danger they were in and be able to resist.

Instead, Ranma merely cowered in the back of the cave and whimpered. Stepping in front of Ranma with a growl of frustration, Akane felt the orange fruit in her hand start to leak juice from the force of her grip. The acidic juice stung the cuts on her hands.

Akane could feel Ranma's terrified breath on the backs of her calves. It felt uncomfortably moist and hot. It also reminded her that she still wasn't wearing any underwear, and right now she really couldn't do anything about it either. "You better not be looking up my skirt, you pervert," she growled.

For a brief, shining moment this morning, Akane had thought that things were going to be all right. Ranma was awake and had brought her breakfast. The sun was shining. They were free and alive and together. They could conquer anything if they did it together!

But no, they had to be attacked by a group of savage cats. Why cats? Why not wolves or snakes? Even ferocious rabbits! But no, it always had to be cats. And to think, she used to like felines. Akane snorted in disgust and adjusted her stance.

As a striped cat stalked with brutal arrogance up to the mouth of the cave, Akane saw pure hatred glittering in its eyes. _Fine_. "I don't care if you're an endangered species or not," she warned with deadly seriousness. "You attack me, you're gonna go extinct!"

Unfortunately, the cats completely ignored her bravado. Taking a deep breath, Akane let loose a loud battle cry. Birds erupted from the trees like glass from an exploding window. Then, winding back her arm, Akane threw her orange fruit at the cat as hard as she could, imagining it as a baseball and the cat as a catcher's mitt. "Batters up!" she screamed as her abused body twanged in protest.

The orange fruit hit the cat square in the chest, flinging it up into the air for several seconds before it landed in the river. Akane smiled as it wailed through the air, "Rrreeeaaaaaarrrrrgh-" _SPLASH_. The felines on shore momentarily scattered to escape the shower of water flung up by the impact.

"Strike one," Akane called out with glee. Maybe she should switch from volleyball to baseball. Unfortunately, her triumph proved to be short lived. The Iriomote cats soon reformed in front of the cave. If possible, they now looked even more venomous.

Saliva dripped from their exposed fangs as they hissed and advanced. Two cats leaped for the opening of the cave. Akane caught the left one with a punch to the face, knocking it out. The other cat, however, twisted away from her fist and scratched her leg with its sharp claws. Swearing, Akane jerked back and kicked the cat in the side, flinging it out of the cave and into the next three advancing cats. They went down in a chorus of angry yowls.

As another cat attacked, Akane caught it in midair with a sidekick. Unfortunately she didn't pay attention to where she put down her foot. It landed on the gourd-turned-water-bowl, and she tripped. Akane yelped in surprised horror as she fell flat onto her back.

A second later she felt fur brush her arm and saw the sunlight flash off fangs descending rapidly towards her throat. Akane tried to dodge, but she knew she would be too late. She was dead.

At that moment of despair, a glowing, translucent paw passed across her face with a tingling whisper, batting away her adversary with crunch. A second later, her vision filled with red hair and an ample bust as Ranma crouched above her prone body, looked out of the cave, and roared. Ranma's fear had activated the cat fist!

Shuffling backwards, Akane pulled herself up into a crouch. The redhead's glowing aura had taken on the shape of a huge cat, which Ranma used to mow down the front row of felines like bowling pins. The air filled with more hissing and yowling, and the assault paused.

Picking up another orange fruit as ammunition, Akane stepped forward until she was standing next to Ranma. Something seemed to be happening within the group of cats. They were bunching up tightly into a single mass, writhing in a circle, over and under each other like snakes in a brood-ball. Soon it became difficult to estimate how many cats made up the writhing mass.

Then one of the larger male cats stepped forward out of the group. His brown striped fur was frosted with silver, and the dark markings on his face made him seem regal. Although clearly older than most of the other cats, he still looked sleekly muscled and dangerous.

The air above the writhing cats started to shimmer, like the mirages created by hot pavement in the summer. Akane swallowed. Maybe she was imagining things?

Then the undulating air solidified into a large, translucent Iriomote cat. Akane's jaw dropped. Blue-white light bubbled and dripped from its fur, disappearing before it hit the writhing cats below. It looked like the Iriomote cats had combined all of their ki into a single, monstrous entity!

Like Akane, Ranma had been watching the cats suspiciously. When she saw the glowing cat form, she jumped from the cave and immediately attacked. The glowing Iriomote cat met Ranma in midair and the two bit and clawed at each other.

Unable to stay airborne, Ranma touched down on the ground for a bare moment before jumping back at her opponent. Several times, Ranma tried to swerve and attack the normal cats directly, but always the ki cat intervened. Giving up, Ranma returned to focusing on her large opponent. For several minutes they clashed without either side striking a decisive blow. Slowly, however, Ranma's superior fighting ability began to shine through. She landed hit after hit.

Then a strange thing happened. The ki cat paused and settled to the ground directly over the silvered cat. The elder cat began to glow with an eldritch fire as the large cat became more transparent. Regally raising its head, the cat meowed demandingly at Ranma.

Surprised, Akane saw Ranma stop her own attack. After a second, she took a hesitant step back. After glancing quickly back to check on Akane, Ranma warily settled into a crouch and meowed fiercely back. The elder responded with a spate of meows, growls, and yowls.

_Since when could Ranma communicate with cats?_ Out of everyone in Ranma's life, Akane considered herself to be the person who'd seen Ranma in the cat fist most often (excepting Genma, of course, who'd created the problem in the first place, the bastard). Yet she had never seen Ranma communicate with other cats. Then again, she'd never seen a group of felines create a spirit cat the size of a car before either.

* * *

Ranma did not like these felines. They had scared and wounded her favorite person, making her person produce many not-good scents. Today, Ranma would not play with her enemies. After she won, she would rip the flesh from their bones and let her person put it on the wood-that-turns-orange/hot to eat. Bloody meat tasted better, but her person was silly and yelled much when given food that still dripped. So Ranma would punish them quickly. Then they would eat a few of the plump ones. After that, her person would become strong, produce good scents, and give Ranma many good scratchies.

Unfortunately, the big glowing cat could not be eaten. Probably. When it died, Ranma would take a bite and see. It was proving hard to kill, but Ranma would get it soon.

Then the old cat spoke, "How can a cat protect the demon-enemy? Don't you know that she needs to die?"

Ranma narrowed her eyes and glanced quickly back at her person, but didn't see anything strange. Turning back, she settled down and angrily responded. "Old geezer, I protect my person, not any demon-enemy. She is my future-mate! Touch her, and I'll kill you and sh** on your corpse."

"Insolent kitten!" the older cat spat. "She has been possessed by the ancient enemy. We sense the demon in her. We know. Better to kill her now than have her birth a new litter of foes."

Ranma hissed angrily. "She is not possessed. I would know!" Standing up, Ranma paced forward angrily. "Stupid old cat, she will only birth my kittens, not any demon's!"

While Ranma first growled her response, the older cat's ears twitched angrily. However, by the time Ranma finished, he looked a bit confused. "You are both female, she cannot have your kittens."

Ranma snorted and stuck her nose in the air. "I am female now, will be male later. Then we will mate. Our kittens will be strong: too strong for you, too strong for demon. _You_ are confused."

"And you are a crazy-idiot cat, but facts don't change. Her energy tastes of rat demon!" snarled the elder. "We have fought the ancient enemies for many seasons. Long ago magic trapped the last rat demon in a cave on our island. We guarded it. But now we are few and the demon has escaped." He lowered his muzzle to the ground and glared at Ranma. "She is evil now. We can taste it."

"And I say you still lie," Ranma responded flatly. "But," Ranma paused and sighed irritably, "what does rat demon taste like? I will check, and prove you wrong. Then you will go away… or I will kill you."

Huffing at Ranma's insolence, the elder cat stalked forward. "I will touch your ki and show you the taste. Pay attention." With that warning, the cat touched his forehead to Ranma's.

The knowledge stretched from one cat to the other like soft taffy, until finally it twisted into Ranma's own aura. Then Ranma broke contact. Even with their temporary truce, Ranma still did not trust the old geezer. Ranma knew how easily old ones could lie. Therefore she refused to turn her back as she warily returned to her person's side.

While they had talked, his person had sat down in front of the cave and eaten an orange fruit. Ranma could smell it on her. Giving the waiting cats one last contemptuous glance, Ranma rubbed against her person's shoulder. Then she licked the sluggishly bleeding claw marks on her person's leg.

At this, her person started making loud unhappy noises. However, Ranma didn't pay attention. Beneath the delicate sweetness of the blood coating her tongue lurked a strangely sour flavor, something like… rat demon. This was bad. Very bad.

Ignoring the hands pushing her away, Ranma licked her person's leg again, rasping her tongue hard against the wound several times to get a better taste. The hurt sounds her person made caused Ranma to flinch, but she didn't stop until she was satisfied. Crawling on top of her person to stop the squirming, Ranma trapped her person's arms with her hind legs. Then she put her paws on her person's shoulders and forced her to lie flat.

Crouching nose to nose, Ranma stared down into her person's large brown eyes anxiously. The blood still tasted wrong, but it was very faint. Her person couldn't be possessed. Ranma would not allow it. If she was… then Ranma would somehow fix it.

A questioning meow escaped Ranma's bloody lips as she searched those brown eyes for demon taint. Did she house a demon? Ranma's ki seeped from her body to envelope the girl below.

Suddenly, something swam up from the depths of those deep brown eyes. Ranma recognized it. "No," meowed her person's mouth, "it marked her, but she escaped. She's not possessed."

Elated, Ranma bounded off her person and spun to face the other cats. "You heard. She's not!" Ranma yowled.

"So she says, but she is still demon marked," grumped the elder cat.

"Then I will kill the demon and she will be free," responded Ranma arrogantly.

"It is a dangerous hunt, but…" the older cat paused and gave Ranma an assessing look, "if you pledge to kill the demon-enemy for us, we will let her live."

Scratching her ear nonchalantly, Ranma replied, "I will pledge to kill the demon-enemy for _her_, and if you leave now, I will let _you_ live."

The elder cat snorted, but agreed.

* * *

Akane felt confused. She had a killer headache for some reason too. One minute a bloodthirsty Ranma had been pouncing on her, and the next, Akane found herself sitting up watching Ranma and the silvery cat sniff each other's butts. What the heck?

As Akane watched, the radiance around the silvered cat rose into the air and sank into Ranma. Then the glow disappeared. A second later, the pale cat turned and ran into the grouped felines, scattering them like billiard balls sent spinning into pockets of jungle shadow. Only Ranma remained behind.

Looking at the deserted shoreline, Akane decided not to question her luck. She couldn't take another bad answer right now. "Ranma, are you still sane?" The question slipped out before she could stop it. _What if Ranma still wanted to lick her blood, or if the glowing light had turned her into some sort of crazy killer?_

Ranma looked back and tilted her redhead inquisitively. "Meow?" Then she pounced down the shore chasing a lizard.

Akane sighed. _Nevermind. She's as sane as Ranma ever is, I guess._ "Well, that was fun," she said, standing up and dusting herself off before walking over to Ranma. "But maybe we can try to stay out of trouble at least until lunch, 'kay?"

Only a moment later, a boat full of large, angry-looking men came around the bend in the river. "Hands on your heads, NOW!" ordered the man in the prow.

_Next time,_ Akane thought as she slowly raised her hands, _I'm biting my tongue.

* * *

_

AN: Why yes, there was a shout-out/almost-quote from the martial arts figure skating storyline. Did you catch it? Lol. Please let me know your thoughts on this one. Thanks!


	9. Freeing Princess

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and its characters do not belong to me.

AN: Thanks for the awesomely detailed reviews so far!

onigiri = riceball.

* * *

**No more pussyfooting around**: a Ranma ½ fanfic

By Indygodusk

* * *

**Chapter 9: Freeing Princess **

"_Well, that was fun," she said, standing up and dusting herself off before walking over to Ranma. "But maybe we can try to stay out of trouble at least until lunch, 'kay?" Only a moment later, a boat full of large, angry-looking men came around the bend in the river. "Hands on your heads, NOW!" ordered the man in the prow. Next time, Akane thought as she slowly raised her hands, I'm biting my tongue._

Thirty minutes later, Akane and Ranko were ensconced in a boat and making their way back upriver. A second boat followed them. "Here's some painkillers and another water," said Akane's new best friend. They may have only met a few minutes ago, but with an offering like that, he'd earned her undying affection.

Swallowing the last of her onigiri, Akane took the items. "If you weren't a monk, I'd kiss you," she said gratefully.

"Just because I'm a monk doesn't mean I'd turn you down," he replied with a saucy wink as he leaned forward, placing his hand on the bench next to her thigh. A split second later, Ranko flopped over Akane's lap from the other side and snapped her teeth only inches from the monk's hand.

He jumped back with the agility of a martial artist. "Whoops, she's a possessive little thing, isn't she?" the monk asked cheerfully.

"Sorry," Akane apologized as she pushed Ranko off her lap violently. Growling grumpily, Ranko grabbed another onigiri from the open container and flopped over Akane's feet.

"So let me get this straight," Akane continued as she decided to ignore her new footwear, "you guys are the brother temple for martial arts geometry?"

He nodded his head. "Yep, we're just down the mountain from the women's temple. We have monthly tournaments with them, which is how we noticed so quickly that something was wrong. When no one showed up, we figured out that they'd been taken. Luckily we were able to track them to this island. Its just too bad that you got caught up in the kidnapping on the day you decided to visit," he said with a commiserating smile. "All we were able to figure out before we left is that they are affiliated somehow with one of the independence movements."

Akane knocked back the painkillers and took a sip of her water. "I heard a couple of them talking about that while we escaped," she offered. "However," she hesitated for a moment before continuing, "I think their captain has made a pact with a demon."

The monk sucked in his breath in surprise. "A demon… are you sure?"

An unhappy frown twisted Akane's lips. "Pretty sure, though I don't know what type of demon it is. The leader of their group is calling himself a prophet now, though. It made me wonder if he wanted us women as some sort of demon sacrifice."

Her escort's face finally lost its smile as a grim look settled over his features. "I better make sure the rest of my brothers are prepared. Thanks for the warning." Standing up, he made his way to the front of the boat. "Oh," he paused to say over his shoulder, "sorry you have to loop back to the fortress to help us rescue the other women."

"No problem," Akane replied with forced confidence as he disappeared up front. However, his words sparked a memory in Akane's mind. She suddenly flashed vividly back to when she'd run into Miaka at the train station.

"_Don't go. The purple cloud harvests for the rat that devours purity. Better impure than to conceive the string of pearls!" Her voice was intense, quiet, and piercingly pure of tone. Miaka's nails had bit into Akane's hand from the tightness of her grip. Akane wanted to step back from the stifling cocoon isolating the two of them from the suddenly hazy crowd, but couldn't. Miaka's eyes held her frozen. _

_Abruptly, one of Miaka's hands let go. A second later, Akane felt a sharp fingernail stab into the center of her palm and begin drawing circles, over and over._

"_For the mother, looping is the only hope. You've already looped back. Accept the loop between, remember to loop forward." Yanking Akane against her chest, Miaka hissed hotly into her ear, "Better to avoid it!" _

A shudder racked Akane's frame. Had that been a prophecy? One she'd been too stupidly arrogant to listen to?The purple cloud could have been the gas that had knocked them out when they'd been kidnapped. Akane hadn't seen any rats though. Maybe she was just being paranoid? But no, Miaka had mentioned the pearls….

Anxiously Akane began to chew on one of her few remaining fingernails. Looked at the right way, you could say that she'd "conceived" or brought those evil pearls to life too. After all, they hadn't appeared and started pulling at her mind until that glistening black string had fallen out of the broken box and into the puddle of her blood. Did that make her the mother?_ But the mother of who or what? _

As for "looping," that could imply several things, Akane thought. It could mean going somewhere and then coming back, or tying something in a circle to make a fastener. _So did she need to return somewhere, or perhaps tie herself to something or someone?_ Why did the warning have to be so vague, she thought unhappily as she ground the palms of her hands into her aching eyes.

For a moment, Akane wanted to believe this all merely meant that she was loopy in the crazy sense for even thinking that it had been a real prophecy, but too many things about Miaka's words made sense. Besides, Miaka did come from a shrine family with reputed spiritual powers. Sighing, Akane wondered if looping back to the place of her imprisonment was the solution to the riddle. It didn't feel right, but then again, she didn't have any other choice.

When she opened her eyes, Akane found Ranko staring up at her with a steady yet concerned gaze. "At least I've got you," Akane whispered quietly, feeling herself slowly calming down. Taking a deep breath, she leaned back against the side of the boat and tried to conserve her strength for the fight ahead. Besides needing directions for which fork to take when the river branched, the monks left her alone to rest.

* * *

After beaching the boats a few minutes away from the compound, they snuck up the rest of the way on foot. In the jungle just outside the perimeter they stopped. The monks discussed the building's layout in low voices, trying to come up with a good assault plan. Guards were noted as well as windows and doors.

Ranko prowled around, restless. She would pace to Akane, stand by her side for a few minutes, and then take off to pace through the nearby shadows. Afraid that Ranko would be missing when they finally decided to attack, Akane snagged her on the next pass and forced her to stay still.

As the monks debated the best way to sneak in, Akane found herself slowly carding her fingers through Ranko's bangs and over the top of her head. The strands of red hair felt surprisingly soft as they slipped through Akane's fingers. Heat radiated from Ranko's head, sending soothing warmth through the pads of Akane's fingers. The redhead sitting sentinel by Akane's side gave a quiet sigh and leaned her cheek against Akane's thigh. The repetitive motion seemed to soothe both of them.

"Soon," Akane promised down to Ranko. Until Akane could find some hot water inside to snap her out of it, she was stuck with the mentality of a cat. After waking up from being in the catfist, Ranma couldn't remember what he had done, either. Akane knew that he hated that.

Bringing both hands up to her face, Akane rubbed at her eyes and tried to tuck her hair more tidily behind her ears. It was getting harder to ignore her weariness. Without anything to distract her, Akane found it difficult to ignore her throbbing head and stinging side. Her cheeks felt unusually hot under her cool fingers as well.

One group of monks seemed to advocate waiting for the concealment of full darkness to attack. The other group didn't want to wait. They felt that the urgency of rescuing their colleagues called for immediate assault, even with the sun high in the sky. Who knew what might be happening to the female monks inside those walls, after all?

Wrapped up in their plans, no one but Ranko noticed Akane's increasingly pale and sweating face. Rubbing her temple, Akane leaned more heavily against the tree bracing her body. She didn't hear Ranko's soft, plaintive noises.

Looking at the outside of the fortress made Akane remember being inside of it. She didn't want to think about what almost happened in that place. Akane did not want to go back in there.

Ranko had been confused ever since she woke up as a cat. Her person was hurt, and driving away those other cats hadn't seemed to fix much of anything. Now all of these strange males were just sitting around making stupid noises and not doing anything. There was no playing or yummy food here. She didn't like it. Plus, her person's scent and posture kept getting more and more wrong. The strange men and her person kept staring and pointing at the big shelter place. That had to be the bad thing upsetting her person. This was not acceptable. She would destroy the bad thing, and then her person would smell right again.

Akane was jolted out of her thoughts when she felt Ranko suddenly jump up and leave her side. Astonished, Akane watched as the girl roared and charged at the building. "Ranma!" she called, feeling her adrenalin surge, but the running figure didn't turn. _Well, there goes our surprise,_ Akane thought in shock.

When Ranko was about ten feet away from the building, she lifted her hand and clawed at the air. The wooden walls shredded into curls and slivers. Both sides were momentarily stunned at the destruction. In the silence, broken only by a few crashes and booms as pieces of the ceiling and walls near the hole cracked and collapsed without support, a large hole formed. Ranko silently stalked on all fours into the new entrance. A second later, they heard an angry yowl and a man's scream, abruptly cut off.

Galvanized, the monks broke out of their stupor and charged into the building. Akane, who had already started running after Ranko, ended up leading the charge. Inside the entrance Ranko had created was a dinning hall with tables and chairs stacked against the walls. A large rectangular banner hung above the hearth. Centered on the black flag was a snarling purple rat clawing at an invisible enemy. Gold and purple twined ropes bordered the cloth and hung down in tassels on each side.

That, and the absence of Ranko, was all that Akane had time to notice as soldiers rushed in from a hall on the right side. Kicking the first man to reach her, she quickly became consumed in the chaos of battle. It reminded her of the morning fights with the hoards of boys wanting to date her in high school. The only difference was that most of these guys were heavier and older than she was used to. Nevertheless, they still fell just as hard as those other boys had.

The next time she had time to take a breath and look around, she saw that the room had become a mess of struggling male figures. The fight had gotten her blood flowing and given her a second wind. No one seemed to be winning, but she knew that would quickly change if reinforcements arrived. Ranko was nowhere to be seen.

Noticing another hallway opposite from where the soldiers had entered, Akane decided that it was up to her to find Ranko and the other women while everyone else was distracted fighting here. Taking a deep breath, Akane pushed her aches once again to the back of her mind and re-entered the fray. It only took her a moment to kick and punch her way to the deserted hallway.

Not quite deserted, Akane realized. Down the corridor she saw several lumps on the ground that turned out to be clawed and unconscious soldiers. Seeing their mauled bodies was a great relief. Catfist Ranko had been down this way.

As Akane moved down the hallway, she began throwing open doors. The second room she came upon was a kitchen. A quick glance around revealed neither Ranma nor enemy soldiers. However, it did have a sink, a stove, and a teakettle.

Feeling as if something was finally going her way, Akane tried the hot water tap, but only cool water came out. Impatient, Akane gave up after thirty seconds. Grabbing the kettle, Akane filled it half-full with water. Then she put it on the stove with the burner turned to high. Already she was feeling more optimistic. Maybe she'd be able to avoid the necklace all together too.

Now she just needed to splash Ranko. Turning Ranko back into a man should also break her from the catfist. Then Akane could let Ranma finish decimating the castle, content in the knowledge that he wouldn't do anything unexpectedly stupid as a human (she didn't know the depths of his stupidity when he was mentally a cat, though she knew he could be quite stupid as both), while she took it easy on her injured side and merely thumped on random stragglers. In the meantime, she'd take a breather in the kitchen while the water boiled.

A sudden muffled _yowl_ caused Akane to spin around. Her fists rose in defense. Scanning the room, she looked for the source. Another yowl sounded, and this time Akane localized it to behind the pantry door. Standing to the side, Akane grasped the doorknob and flung open the door, ready for a fight.

When nothing came rushing out, Akane peered into the closet. On the floor rested a wooden cage holding an irate Iriomote cat. Its eyes momentarily reflected back red from the lights of the kitchen. Blinking, it tilted its head and revealed buttercup yellow irises. Its brown coloring was broken up by a delicate circlet of white fur that curved around its forehead before coming to a point above its moist pink nose. It reminded Akane of a princess's tiara.

In stark contrast to the delicate white markings, half of its left ear was missing. Scarred claw marks ran below the ear and down the side of its face. Even with the tiara of white fur, the cat looked vicious. After her experience by the cave, Akane knew better than to treat it lightly. It didn't matter if it was the size of a housecat; this one was definitely a fighter.

Nevertheless, she hated seeing anything caged, especially after her recent confinement in this place. "What are you doing locked up in a kitchen closet?" Akane softly questioned. The scarred cat met her eyes and hissed, revealing yellowed fangs.

Moving forward slowly, she continued to talk soothingly. "Now, now, Princess, I've just saved you from being the secret ingredient in tonight's stew. Don't be prissy. Your Auntie Akane is here to rescue you, so just settle down, keep your claws and fangs to yourself, and everything will be fine."

The cat, now dubbed 'Princess,' hissed louder as Akane paced closer, its eyes locking intently onto her neck. "No need to get feisty," she continued, trying not to let her nervousness show as she picked up a key hanging from a hook on the wall. Open bags of white rice tipped precariously against the back of the cage's wooden slats, with shiny boxes of cooking spices crowding the shelves above. "I met a bunch of your friends out by the river. I'm sure they miss you."

Crouching down, she inserted the key into the lock. It easily clicked open. Princess yowled. "We're all friends now, so just calm down and I'll have you free in a moment." The lock fell to the floor with a clatter. Taking an unsteady breath, Akane tried one last time to soothe the bristling cat. "You owe me for letting you out, so remember to play nice."

Then she pulled up the cage's latch and jumped back against the warm stove. The cage door swung open. Princess didn't hesitate for a moment, leaping quickly out. Quirking her lips, Akane realized Princess was a 'he,' not a she based on his… equipment.

Hesitating in the doorway of the closet, Princess fixed Akane with a gimlet eye. He didn't look very grateful. Reaching to the side, Akane picked up the kettle of steaming water off the stove. "If you try to attack me," she threatened, "I will splash you with this hot water, and it will _hurt_."

Princess cocked his head to the side as if he understood. The cat dropped his jaw open slightly and gave Akane an evil cat grin. Then he crouched, powerful muscles bunching in preparation for a leap in her direction.

"Don't," Akane warned. Then she heard another catlike yowl from the hallway. Firming her lips, Akane carefully splashed a line of steaming water across the floor as a deterrent. She made sure not to actually hit Princess. After all, she wanted him to retreat, not to piss him off. Princess took a wary step back, but then narrowed his eyes as if to attack. Narrowing her eyes, Akane splashed more hot water at the cat.

At that exact moment, Ranko came barreling into the room and straight into the stream of hot water. Maybe Ranko had come looking for Akane or heard the other cat's howling. Or perhaps the curse was such that it pulled Ranma towards any falling water in a fifty-foot radius like metal filings to a magnet.

Whatever the case, Akane watched with a curious lack of surprise as Ranma morphed back into a man. Black hair replaced red as his chest shrunk and limbs grew. His flailing arm knocked into Princess and punted her across the room. The teapot dangled from Akane's left hand, momentarily forgotten.

Blinking rapidly, human consciousness snapped back into Ranma's eyes. "Um, Akane?" he mumbled as he brushed several strands of wet black hair off his now masculine face and behind his ear. "What's going," he swept his gaze around the kitchen, "on-n-n-n ca-CAT!"

Immediately Ranma backpedaled into the hall with flailing arms and disappeared. Princess streaked into the hallway after him with a hissing bounce. Left alone in the kitchen holding a teakettle, Akane could only slap her hand over her face and sigh. This was her life. For a second she thought the frustration of it all might bring her to tears. Instead, she surprised herself with a snorting giggle.

"Oh, Ranma," she laughed as she turned off the stove and replaced the kettle.

Smirking softly, Akane left the kitchen and restarted her search for either the pig-tailed martial artist or the other female prisoners. Around the corner she could still hear the sounds of fighting. She started opening each room in the hallway looking for the female monks.

At a door halfway down the hall, she hit the jackpot. Inside the room rested a large steel cage containing about twelve women. Their clothes matched the women's temple where Akane herself had first been kidnapped.

"Please, let us out!" one of the women demanded. She looked to be in her forties, and was obviously the oldest of those kidnapped.

The cage doors were tightly secured with a bulbous steel padlock. Examining the lock, Akane noticed rust pitting the back and numerous scratches scouring the metal around the keyhole. Obviously this lock had seen a lot of use.

"Do you know where the key is?" Akane asked as she looked around the room for clues. Unfortunately, no convenient key rings hung off of a hook on the wall. The women only knew that the guards had keys on their belts. Akane was going to have to do this the hard way.

Hoping the rust was a sign of weakness in the metal, Akane planted her feet and pulled on the lock as hard as she could. She could feel veins bulging in her neck and her face becoming red. From inside the cage the captive women called out encouragements. The lock creaked slightly, but refused to give.

Black spots swam into Akane's vision. She began to feel dizzy and lightheaded, and nausea began to ebb and swell in her stomach. The lock was too strong to break. Cursing, she had to give up and sit down for a second before she passed out.

"I'm going to have to find the key." The hopeful expressions on their face fell. "I'll be back," she vowed. Briefly clasping the older woman's hand through the bars of the cage in promise, Akane ran back out into the hallway and began searching the unconscious bodies for keys.

[To be continued]


	10. Concerning Need & Serious Intentions

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and its characters do not belong to me.

AN: I haven't answered any reviews from the last chapter yet… but it was either do that tonight or update with a juicy scene. Your detailed reviews deserved the tantalizing scene more, but I promise to do double thank-yous after this!

* * *

**No more pussyfooting around**: a Ranma ½ fanfic

By Indygodusk

* * *

**Chapter 10: Concerning Need & Serious Intentions**

"_I'm going to have to find the key." The hopeful expressions on their face fell. "I'll be back," she vowed. Briefly clasping the older woman's hand through the bars of the cage in promise, Akane ran back out into the hallway and began searching the unconscious bodies for keys. _

Clots of fighting monks and soldiers began spilling into the hallway like refuse down a storm drain, occasionally banging into Akane as she searched for the keys. On the other side of the monks she saw more black and purple clad soldiers running in from the opposite direction. She needed to hurry.

Dodging a fist, Akane knocked out her attacker with an uppercut and moved farther down the corridor. The next two unconscious soldiers didn't have any keys either. As she frantically searched another body, Akane began to hear shrieks and a masculine yowl coming from around the corner.

A wave of relief surged through Akane's body, causing her to sway for a moment. That had to be Ranma. Akane just hoped the pigtailed boy's animal instincts didn't betray him into doing something stupid. Or at least not any stupider than Ranma could usually be.

Finally, she spotted the brassy sheen of a ring of keys. They hung on the belt of a stocky man sprawled on the ground at the end of the corridor. She hadn't noticed him before because a large, pewter statue of a crouching rat obscured his body.

Five parallel cuts sliced down his chin, across his chest, and over his pudgy belly: Ranma's work. Akane grabbed the key ring and yanked, but he'd strung the steel ring on his leather belt and nestled it between two thick belt loops for extra security. It wouldn't budge.

Grimacing, Akane crouched down and began unbuckling the man's belt. The leather was slippery with the blood seeping from his belly wounds. In her efforts to rush, she fumbled and accidentally pressed down against one of his slashes. The soldier jolted. His eyes popped open, rolling wildly, as he jerked away violently with a strangled gasp.

Akane flinched back in surprise. As she recoiled, one of his hands struck out and knocked into her shoulder, flinging her back hard into the decorative statue. Her wounded side ricocheted off the solid leg of the pewter rat.

Sound ceased to have meaning. Agony burrowed up and down her body like acidic worms. Akane's face contorted in pain. All she could do was writhe in anguish on the floor. Her paralyzed lungs refused to breathe. It seemed to go on forever.

Finally, the pain diminished enough to allow Akane to catch her breath. Sweet oxygen flooded her lungs. Taking several sobbing breaths, she wrapped one arm around her wounded side and pushed herself off the ground to rest against the wall. Salty sweat trickled into her mouth and stung her tearing eyes. She could feel warm blood seeping against her fingers, and knew the cut had reopened and was bleeding through the bandage.

Down the corridor, she saw the man with the keys gaining speed as he moved farther and farther away. Swallowing down another sob, Akane pushed herself to her feet and swayed drunkenly. She didn't think she'd be able to catch him before he disappeared into a room down the hallway. But those women in the cage needed her to get those keys. Digging deep, she found the discipline to mentally push down the pain and take a step forward.

"Ranma," Akane called weakly. Coughing, she began a stumbling jog after the clawed-up soldier.

"Ranma!" she yelled more strongly. "I need you!"

Akane was slowly gaining on the wounded soldier, hampered himself by the cuts crisscrossing his torso, but she was still fifteen feet away when he careened around the corner in front of her and disappeared. She was going to lose him! Skidding around the corner, Akane was forced to catch herself on the wall to keep from tripping.

Suddenly, something blurred out of a doorway and pounced on the fleeing man's back. The soldier crashed forward onto the ground with a terrified shriek. The blur sliding off his back resolved itself into Ranma. Growling, Ranma took the nape of the man's neck between his teeth and gave him a hard shake. The soldier gurgled and went limp. When Ranma dragged him over and laid him at Akane's feet, the man was once again unconscious. Hopefully this time, he'd stay that way.

"Good job, Ranma," Akane praised as she half-sat, half-fell down to kneel by the soldier's side in the middle of the corridor. For a second she just let herself rest in dazed relief.

Purring, Ranma pranced over and gently stropped his body affectionately against Akane's good side. Then he leaned into Akane's body. Sighing, she let her fingers trail down the outside of Ranma's forearm. Ranma's purring increased in volume as he allowed more weight to settle against her body. Then he reached up unexpectedly and licked the side of Akane's face, catching part of her chapped lips with his moist, pink tongue.

Akane gasped and snapped out of her daze, but not soon enough to prevent Ranma from giving her a second, tender lick. A tingling sensation oozed down her spine at the slow scrape of Ranma's hot tongue as it glided along the side of her chin, catching slightly on her top lip as he licked across the corner of her open mouth, before continuing on up her blushing cheek. Akane's eyelashes fluttered shut for a moment as Ranma's mouth ghosted across her cheekbone to nuzzle against her temple, the rasp of his facial stubble contrasting with the velvety softness of his lips, the warmth of his breath emphasizing the wet path taken by his tongue.

"Hey now," Akane protested, but without any of the angry heat she'd intended. Instead, her voice came out low and husky, "none of that."

_I'm just tired_, she told herself. And then, somehow, Akane's forceful shove changed between her mind and her fingertips into a gentle caress that slowly pushed Ranma's face away, allowing her to drag her thumb along the shadowy stubble edging his jaw. Ranma sat back leisurely, tilted his head, and blinked slowly at Akane, momentarily veiling those intense blue eyes with a sweep of his long black lashes. Akane gave a shuddering sigh.

"One of these days," she told him softly, "you're going to do that as a human, and then we'll have a serious talk about your intentions towards me." Fingering her lips, she breathed, "Please have serious intentions."

Shaking her head sharply, Akane turned to the soldier in front of her and yanked his belt open with a grimace. She then ripped it out of his pants. In the quiet of the hallway, the friction of leather against leather sounded like a hissing snake. A moment later, the metal key ring slithered free and fell to the floor with a clatter. Firming her lips, Akane leaned over and picked them up. The metal felt cold and heavy in her hands.

Successfully getting the keys gave Akane a second wind, _or was it fourth or fifth by now?_ It only took her a moment to stagger back to her feet. Then, with Ranma alertly prowling ahead and behind, she made her way back to the captives to unlock their cage.

Rounding the last corner, Akane saw a strange-looking man rushing towards them. His body seemed contorted as he ran on the tips of his toes and the knuckles of one hand. The other arm cradled clutched an ornate black velvet jewelry case studded with gold filigree and amethysts. It was beautiful, and Akane had trouble tearing her eyes away to continue evaluating their new foe.

The man's posture echoed the way Ranma ran in the catfist, but his proportions seemed off - his legs shorter and his joints strangely distended. For a few moments his neck stayed craned over his shoulder, as if watching for pursuit. He hadn't noticed them yet.

Ranma's vicious hiss changed that.

Shocked by the ferocity of the sound, harsher than she'd _ever_ heard Ranma sound as a cat, Akane stumbled. Throwing out a hand, she barely caught her balance on the wall before falling on her face. Unsure of what Ranma saw that she didn't, Akane waited several feet behind her bristling fiancé and catalogued the scene. There had to be a reason Ranma sounded like that. Until she figured it out, she would hang back.

When Ranma hissed, the other man whipped around with feral yellow eyes and hissed back. Akane jumped when she saw that his pupils were slit like a cat's, with a matching elongated jaw full of sharp teeth perfect for biting and rending. Elongated and tufted ears sat on either side of his scarred face.

Akane had seen a lot of strange creatures in the last few years, but something about this man screamed _wrongness_. It was as if a child had tried to melt together a toy soldier and a cat, and then given up halfway - leaving behind strange bulges of flesh like dribbles of candle wax on the exposed skin. This is what she might have expected from some of the scarier legends of the catfist warrior if she'd never seen Ranma. It gave Akane chills. The look in the man's eyes wasn't sane either, as if the process had broken something in the mind of both man and cat.

Nevertheless, something seemed to be driving him. Barely slowing, the cat-man reared up and sent a claw-shaped ki attack down the hallway with a feline yowl. Akane bent her knees belatedly to swerve out of the way, but the attack was surprisingly weak. It luckily only traveled a few feet down the hallway.

Easily dodging, Ranma leapt forward and attacked. The weakness of the ki attack made him overconfident, as he managed to land only a glancing blow down the cat-man's side when his fleet foe nimbly twisted away. Almost missing threw off Ranma's balance, leaving him momentarily vulnerable. It was enough. The retaliatory spin-kick landed hard, sending Ranma arching backwards through the air to slam through the wall next to the kitchen with a ferocious crash.

As the dust settled, Akane heard the squeal of abused metal. A split second later, the pipe above the new hole in the wall burst, releasing a shower of water. _Of course it would be water_, Akane thought sardonically.

Silently Akane took a step forward in preparation to attacking the cat-man while his back was turned. However, she had hesitated too long in watching the pipes, and her moment of surprise was lost. The cat-man swung around and met her eyes.

Then a strange thing happened. He paused and tilted his head to the side as if listening to someone. Their eyes locked. At that moment, the cat-man's eyes softened, became almost worshipful. The hand clutching the ornate jewelry box to his chest loosened. Holding the box out flat on one hand, he offered it to Akane.

Panic froze Akane's breath. She suddenly wanted to take the jewelry box, to open it. It was a familiar feeling. She could guess at what the jewelry box contained, and that terrified her. Artificial peace wafted from the box like perfume and tried to drown her fears.

Resisting the flood of demon magic, for that is what it had to be, Akane envisioned herself as a tree. She pictured her feet rooting deep down into the floor of the hallway. A tree cared nothing for jewelry boxes or necklaces. As a tree, no matter how the streams of magically induced trust tugged at her limbs, she could not move forward and take the box.

Unfortunately, the cat-man was not pretending to be a tree, and therefore could move as much as he liked. He padded closer to Akane and lifted the box higher. Her fingertips tingled with the urge to take it.

Then from the kitchen came the sound of feminine swearing. "I dunno what's goin' on, but someone's gonna suffer for it!" shouted Ranko. "And where the hell is Akane?" the redhead demanded angrily as she emerged from the rubble of the kitchen.

[To be continued]

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AN: So originally, Ranma never got to be a boy in this chapter and there was no yummy licking. But then _Rebel Sage_ and a few others kept expressing concern in reviews about the lack of male Ranma getting any romantic moments with Akane, which I started to stew over. My male Ranma muse then started projecting citrusy scenes into my head that had no relation to the current plot as I tried to fall asleep. Thus, we reached this little compromise so I could get some sleep. He also got a steamy, steamy, STEAMY future chapter that you'll get to read eventually too, when we get to that point in the plot (there are at least 3-4 chapters that have to happen first though). Well, I think it's gonna be steamy, but then again I have the full color picture streaming through my head. I'll be interested in your opinions when we get there (Indygodusk chortles to herself). Please leave me a review to let me know what you think, what you want, and what you expect will happen next. Thanks!


	11. Broken windows and female monks

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and its characters do not belong to me.

AN: Thanks for reading and reviewing!

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**No more pussyfooting around**: a Ranma ½ fanfic

By Indygodusk

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**Chapter 11: Broken windows and female monks**

_Unfortunately, the cat-man was not pretending to be a tree, and therefore could move as much as he liked. He padded closer to Akane and lifted the box higher. Her fingertips tingled with the urge to take it._

_Then from the kitchen came the sound of feminine swearing. "I dunno what's goin' on, but someone's gonna suffer for it!" shouted Ranko. "And where the hell is Akane?" the redhead demanded angrily as she emerged from the rubble of the kitchen. _

Right as Ranko burst into the hallway, Akane saw Princess, the Iriomote cat she had rescued, come racing down the hall with his yellow eyes fixed on the cat-man. Ranko and Princess barreled into each other and tumbled to the floor in a wild tangle of limbs.

Growling in annoyance, the cat-man snatched the glittering jewelry box back to his chest and grabbed at Akane's wrist with the other. He then tried to jerk her into the nearest open room. Akane's body twitched with the force of his pull, but she kept her feet rooted to the floor. The more he tugged, the less trouble she had resisting the magically induced feelings of trust.

Nevertheless, she was injured and weak. Muscles trembling, she felt her feet start to slide along the floor. Several seconds later, her body had moved halfway through the doorway. Abandoning her tree metaphor, Akane used her free hand to grab tightly onto the doorframe. Once again she jerked to a stop. The rough motion caused the cut in her side to burn even more, and Akane whimpered.

A duet of growls echoed down the hallway to Akane as Ranko and Princess seemed to now be trying to kill each other instead of joining the fight with the cat-man. It was too much. Akane's body felt wracked with more pain than she'd ever experienced in her entire life, and she was _terrified_ that this cat-man was going to give her body and soul to an evil demonic necklace the second her fingers slipped from the doorframe.

Akane snapped. Something foreign deep inside came clawing up from her lungs and out of her throat. It felt as if someone else had momentarily seized control of her tongue and lips as she opened her mouth and… _MEOWED_ –demandingly.

Ranko and Princess immediately jerked their heads towards Akane. They looked shocked. It took only a split second for them to finish untangling themselves. Then they charged. Ranko yowled threateningly at the cat-man.

After one last, muscle-wrenching tug, which left Akane barely clinging to the doorframe with only two fingers, the cat-man unexpectedly gave up. Releasing Akane's arm with an angry hiss, he sprinted into the empty room. Not slowing down in the slightest, he dived through the closed window, raining glass shards through the air, and escaped out into the yard. Hot on his heels, Princess leapt past Akane and through the jagged hole in the window, disappearing into the darkness.

Akane stayed frozen in place until Ranko butted against Akane's legs. Snapped out of her daze, Akane blinked down at her. "Another close call…" she whispered. Stepping carefully up to the broken window, Akane squinted into the night, but couldn't see any struggling figures. Ranko whined from the hallway for her to leave. "Good hunting, Princess," she called softly. Then Akane squared her shoulders and left the room.

Things proceeded quickly after that. Most of the male monks were still up and fighting. They had pushed the soldiers back out of the hallway and more than halfway back into the dining room.

After finally releasing the captives, Akane had to smile tiredly as the female monks gave a unanimous battle cry and rushed out into the dining room to join their brothers. She had no doubt that they'd quickly finish off the remaining soldiers. Only the woman Akane had talked to before stayed.

"Here, sit down for a moment and let me see to that," the woman said.

Akane was confused until she realized that the woman was gesturing to the blood soaking Akane's side and half of her skirt. "Oh… thank you."

"I'm Sato Mariko, by the way," she explained as she fetched a knife from an unconscious guard just outside the doorway. "You might at well call me Mariko though, since you did rescue me. Besides which," a grin twitched her lips, "at least three unrelated monks out there share my same last name, so it gets confusing trying to figure out which one of us you're talking to if you just call for Sato-san," she finished with a wink.

Mariko was a muscular woman in her forties. Laugh lines radiated from her calm brown eyes, and a few strands of silver streaked her sleek, chin-length black hair. Akane liked her. Even though they'd just met, she made Akane think of a trusted Aunt to whom you could confide anything and she'd take it in stride.

Coming back in, Mariko quickly used the knife to cut off the hem of her own shirt for a makeshift bandage, revealing toned abdominals bearing several crisscrossed scars that proclaimed to those who had the eyes to see that this woman was no stranger to fighting. After putting down the strips of cloth, Mariko pointed the knife at Akane and ordered, "Now, lift up your shirt and let me see that wound."

One minute Mariko was briskly reaching for Akane's wound with the hand not holding the knife, and the next, Ranko's tense body was interspersed between them. A threatening snarl emanated from Ranko's throat. Gulping and wide-eyed, Mariko put her hands up and backed slowly away.

"What is _she_?" Mariko asked, her voice going up an octave on the last word as Ranma's face did something threatening that Akane couldn't see.

"It's just one of his, I mean her, curses, but she's really not bad, don't worry." The look Mariko sent her clearly conveyed that these words were not reassuring in the slightest.

Frustrated, Akane found herself growling. "Ranko, you idiot! Stop it right now!" Akane snapped. "She's trying to help, leave her alone." Without conscious thought, Akane found her fist raised and clenched in warning.

Looking back over her shoulder, Ranko met Akane's eyes for a moment before glancing surreptitiously at her fist. Sniffing loudly in apparent unconcern, Ranko nevertheless stopped growling and turned her back to Mariko.

"Sorry about th-," Akane began to say before the redhead unexpectedly flopped down on top of Akane's feet, causing her to topple back into a chair, "Oof!…that."

Out of the corner of her eye, Akane saw Mariko suppressing a smirk. "Jerk," Akane muttered at Ranko.

Mariko cautiously stepped up to Akane, but when Ranko continued to pointedly ignore her, she slowly relaxed. "Now this is just temporary until we get somewhere safer," Mariko warned as she pulled Akane's shirt up. Staring at the blood-soaked bandages, she remarked, "I see this won't be the first temporary bandage either. You've lost a good bit of blood it looks like too. You'll have to take it easy from now on."

Despite Mariko's gentle touch, rebinding the bleeding slash was painful. To distract herself from the pain, Akane explained to Mariko about finding the pearl necklace, meeting the male monks, and running into the cat-man in the hallway. Several grunts and whimpers escaped Akane's lips during her story, and by the end of it all she was sweating, white-faced, and nauseous. Ranko didn't look too happy either; if she'd had actual cat ears they would have been pressed flat against her head. During the procedure, Ranko had compressed herself into a small yet heavy ball on top of Akane's feet, a comforting weight that Akane tried to focus on through the pain.

"Last night, after the two of you escaped from here," began Mariko as she tied off the end of the bandage, "they made the guards stay in the room all night to make sure none of the rest of us escaped. They got a little bored and started talking about why we were kidnapped." Akane raised her head, curiosity pushing back some of her exhaustion.

Mariko continued, "They said they needed pure female warriors for the prophet's private guard, that using men had been a mistake. Something about it taking a cat to kill a cat, and the irony of turning the weapons of the ancient enemy back against them."

Sitting back, Mariko wiped the traces of Akane's blood off her hands and onto her sides of her pants with a faint grimace. Then she continued, "That need for 'purity' is probably the only reason why none of us were molested, considering the way some of those men were looking and talking about us."

Mariko bit her lip and tilted her head as if examining Akane's face for something. She must have found it, because she started speaking again. "One of the older men, one with the look of a fanatic about his eyes, told the other guards that the purest of us women would have a different fate. That she might have the honor of becoming a consort to their god, and giving birth to his offspring. His eyes were appraising our youngest initiate, Haruka-chan, when he said it." Mariko paused as if unsure if she wanted to voice a thought. Then she said, "She's about your age."

Akane felt her eyebrows scrunching up in confusion. Each thought seemed to flow like honey. "Meaning what, Mariko-san?" she asked.

Sighing, Mariko stood up. "I don't know, but the pearl necklace and the cat-man in the hallway you told me about?" Akane nodded as Mariko finished her thought, "They're probably part of it."

Then, in a swift change of subject, Mariko counseled, "You're definitely going to need stitches. And that wound already looks infected, so make sure you keep an eye on it."

Giving Mariko a weary but polite smile, Akane thanked her. It must have become infected during their swim in the river… or maybe tramping through the countryside… or the knife could have been dirty to begin with. Mentally throwing up her hands in defeat, Akane decided that it didn't really matter how it got that way.

By the time they came out of the room into the dining hall, all of the soldiers were either unconscious, tied up, or had run away. None of the monks wanted to stick around, however, in case the soldiers came back with reinforcements. Luckily, some enterprising young man had discovered a dock and several extra motorboats, so they would all have a quick escape.

Even with Mariko supporting her on one side, Akane found herself staggering like a drunk towards the dock. Finally she managed to make it into the back of one of the boats with Ranko, where she collapsed. Akane didn't even hear the engine start before she passed out.

TO BE CONTINUED

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AN: For the sake of appropriate chapter cuts and fast updating, the last few and the next few chapters are relatively short (as in 4 pages instead of 6-8). Hopefully this isn't too annoying. I could always just update once a week or twice a month, but as a reader I think this is better. But you might not, so thoughts?

Also, some of you might be surprised that they seem to have left the compound without actually resolving the problem or solving everything (or anything). Hopefully it isn't a horrible surprise. This has been part of the plan all along, I promise. So please continue to read and bear with me. Do let me know your thoughts though, please. Also, if anything is confusing, please tell me specifics.

Random thought/question- Do you ever read fanfic for series that you've never watched or only watched a couple of episodes of? It rarely happens to me, but sometimes I am so intrigued by a story description or an author that I give it a shot. Series I have done this with are Samurai Deeper Kyo (Kyo/Yuya love! I haven't read or seen more than 5 minutes of this, though I've looked up the character bios), Gokusen (Shinkumi forever! After my first fic, I devoured the manga and anime and now love it all), and Dragon Ball Z (I was never a big fan of the anime so I've only seen a handful of episodes, but I've read a several awesome Vegeta/Bulma fics since). I tried a Full Metal Alchemist fic last week even though I've never seen the anime, but I couldn't get into it without the background so I gave up. What about you guys?


	12. Fever, Thunderstorms, and Collaring

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and its characters do not belong to me.

AN: Thanks to _Tashin, __J Luc Pitard, Rebel Sage, KawaiiKune-TomBoy, Angela Jewell, ryu238, quivering quill, hon, VlightPhase, jay, tomboy 26, flinn, Nekoi, Shyguy1, and Gemini011_ for reading!

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No more pussyfooting around**: a Ranma ½ fanfic

By Indygodusk

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**Chapter 12: Fever, Thunderstorms, and Collaring**

_Even with Mariko supporting her on one side, Akane found herself staggering like a drunk towards the dock. Finally, she managed to make it into the back of one of the boats with Ranko, where she collapsed. Akane didn't even hear the engine start before she passed out._

The next few times Akane woke up, she felt like her entire body was on fire and a giant was stomping on her head. Sometimes she would try to make the giant go away, and then Mariko and other cold hands that she didn't recognize would hold her down and force her to stop. The entire time, Ranko caterwauled in the background.

While dreaming, Akane relived her time in the fortress over and over again. Sometimes she escaped with Ranko and made it to the cave in the jungle. Other times, they were recaptured. At one point, she found herself unable to fight off the soldiers and could only scream and sob through her gag as they took turns violating both her and Ranko.

Akane woke up out of that nightmare swinging, and felt her fist connect with someone's flesh. Despite her best efforts to escape, her body was too weak and she merely flopped onto the floor. Someone picked her up and put her back on the futon. Gentle hands smoothed the blanket back up over her chest and moved her hair off her sweaty forehead. Akane sobbed futilely as a fevered sleep dragged her back under.

At first, she found herself wandering alone in the seemingly abandoned fortress. Then she turned the corner and found the two soldiers who had tied her up unconscious on the floor. Picking up a dagger, she gave a cry of rage and started stabbing the soldiers. Blood spattered onto her face, but she didn't seem to care.

Horrified, she escaped into a dream involving inventorying the kitchen closet. Princess wasn't there. A little frog kept asking her for soy sauce, but she couldn't find any. Akane gave him a bottle of fish sauce instead. They looked the same, so substituting it in the recipe should be fine.

Only rarely did Akane wake lucid enough to realize that she was very sick. At those times, someone would pour medicine or a cup of soup down her throat. Then Ranko would curl up alongside Akane's legs and chase her into sleep with her purring.

In other nightmares, Akane put on the pearl necklace. The outcome of this changed each time she dreamed it. The first time, she merely died quickly. The next, she died slow, drained of vitality into a mummified husk. Another time, she turned into a hideous monster that killed everything in sight.

The worst time, though, she passively watched as the giant pewter rat from the hallway waddled in and carelessly bit an unconscious Ranko's throat out, exposing the white of her spine. Then the rat turned into a man. At the crook of his finger, Akane smiled and took off her clothes. Stepping up to him, she kissed his red-smeared mouth and then had sex with him the floor, not caring that her hair rested in a pool of Ranko's congealing blood.

Waking up after that nightmare, Akane found herself vomiting violently. It got all over her clothes and the bed, but she couldn't stop. For over a minute her body shook with dry heaves. Agony radiated from her side with each convulsion, but she couldn't stop. Finally, spent, she collapsed back into her filthy pillow. Akane wanted to die. Tears leaked from her closed eyes.

In her misery, she heard a woman's voice speaking soothingly. The woman came over and cleaned Akane up with a damp cloth. More hands came and helped change her clothes and bandages. Then they changed the sheets. Cradling her head, the kind voice made her take a few sips of something minty before Akane fell back asleep.

The next few dreams blurred. At one point, her mother came and tried to teach her how to sew a hakama for Ranma, but Akane kept messing up and having to rip the stitches back out with her teeth. If he was going to stay in Japan instead of going back to China, her mother explained, he needed Japanese hakama to replace his Chinese clothes. The pile of strings became a bowl of ramen, and then Akane woke up to the smell of soup broth. Keeping her eyes open through force of will, Akane managed to drink a small cup.

The next time Akane fell asleep, she found herself watching the memory of her death at Jusendo. It filled her with pride to see her doll-sized body shield Ranma, especially since she couldn't feel the pain of Saffron's attack this time. Detached, she watched as the doll's eyes slipped closed.

In the quietude of death, something like the scent and tingle of a thunderstorm became tangible to her spirit. Slowly, her soul seeped out of the doll, following the smell until the tingle became a buzz as she stepped through a glowing portal. On the other side, she began traveling up a grassy hillside with a tall gate at the apex. The dreaming Akane followed.

_I don't remember this happening_, she thought with a moment of lucidity before being sucked back into the dream.

Even now, she couldn't look at the gate too long without blinking and rubbing her eyes. She couldn't tell if it was an iron black gate that sucked in all light, or a prismatic white gate that reflected rainbows. As her soul reached the top of the hill, the grass turned into a tiled courtyard.

In the center of the courtyard rested the mysterious gate. Akane saw herself watching her feet as she very carefully avoided stepping on any of the seams between tiles. It had seemed very important at the time, though she now couldn't remember why. To her dreaming mind, it merely looked like a way to delay the permanent separation from her physical body.

Suddenly, dream Akane became the one walking up to the gate instead of just watching it all happen. Her pace slowed as she neared the door, until finally she came to a stop only a few feet away. She couldn't look directly at the doors, but as her hand hesitantly reached out to grasp the handle, her fingers seemed backlit rather than dimmed by the door's aura.

As Akane looked down to more cautiously examine the effect, she became aware of how the shadows fell at her feet. The shadows didn't form the shape of the door or her own body. Rather, it looked as if a crowd of people stood only a few feet ahead of her, casting their shadows onto the ground. _Perhaps on the other side of this strange gate?_ she thought.

Emotion swelled in Akane's breast as she recognized the shadowy profiles of her grandparents and, most precious of all, her mother. Their shadow arms seemed to beckon lovingly, urging her forward. A light wind began to seep through the door, bringing the soft sounds of chattering people. Akane thought she recognized the lilt of her mother's voice.

Inside her heart, her anticipation rose like the sun, awakening her hopes of seeing her deceased mother again. A smile curved her lips. Akane stepped forward eagerly and tried to open the door. When her fingers were only a hairs width from touching the handle, however, she abruptly jerked to a stop.

Shocked, Akane felt something bite onto the trailing ribbon of her spirit and _yank_. It began frantically dragging her back across the courtyard and away from the gate. Unable to take her eyes off the shadow profile of her mother, Akane struggled to get away, to go back. The pace of their retreat slowed as she dug in her heels.

Moments later, another two forms bracketed her on either side, each grabbing an arm and pulling. Despite her best efforts, she found herself overcome by their combined strength. When they'd dragged her back onto the grass, the teeth latched onto her spirit heaved at the same time as one of the figures kicked at the back of her knee, and they all went tumbling down the hillside.

Unable to see the courtyard or gate any longer, Akane found herself flat on her back in the grass with a heavy weight on her chest and another over her legs. Blinking, she tensed up and turned her head to glare at the nearest body pressing her down into the hillside. When the dark-haired man lifted his face from the curve of her shoulder, Akane realized with surprise that the person restraining her was a very upset Ranma.

"You're looping back," Ranma demanded fiercely, "whether you like it or not," he finished with a hitch in his voice. A muscle in his jaw twitched as he swallowed heavily.

The body on her legs shifted, and suddenly Ranko's face popped up over Ranma's shoulder, meeting Akane's eyes beseechingly. "Akane, I'm sorry, and I'm-" her voice cracked as her gaze shifted away. "I'm really lame at this stuff," she muttered. Her blue eyes shimmered with unshed tears. The brilliant red of her hair seemed dimmed by her distress.

Confused, Akane looked at the faces of her fiancé, seeing Ranma's and Ranko's features side by side for the first time. As she watched, a teardrop escaped Ranma's eye and trickled down off his chin. She could feel the heat of it as it splashed onto the cool skin of her throat. "I never… told you what I really felt. I just made you mad and hurt you," Ranma said apologetically.

Ranko sniffled, her lip trembled, and then tears began beading up and falling from her glistening azure eyes. "Akane… I need you," she said thickly.

Letting out a deep breath, Akane surrendered herself to Ranma's will. After closing her eyes, she sent a grateful prayer winging up the hill towards God for his mercy, with an added apology to her mother. She knew her family wouldn't mind waiting a little bit longer for their reunion. Besides, she had the comfort of knowing that her mother wouldn't be waiting alone.

Ranma needed her, her path was clear.

When her body went limp, both Ranmas slowly got off of Akane and stood up. Freed, Akane made to stand up herself, but found her movements still somewhat restrained. A large panther with midnight fur and Ranma's sapphire eyes had a glowing tendril of Akane's soul trapped in his mouth. Standing up slowly, Akane took a step away and tried to tug it out discreetly. The panther merely grumbled at her and refused to let go.

Sighing, Akane found her gaze drawn back to the gate at the top of the hill. She wanted the annoying cat to get his teeth off of her. As she squinted at the wavering image of the gate, trying to make out more details, she tugged more firmly at her soul. Slowly the gate began to come into focus, both doors made of gleaming crystal. The handles were rainbows, restrained on either end by golden flanges. Ranma asked something, but Akane was too distracted to answer.

Then the cat yanked back on her soul, _hard_. The force of the pull sent her stumbling into the panther's side. Before she could do more than gasp, Ranko jumped to her side and grabbed at the trailing cord of Akane's soul. For a split second Akane thought she meant to help. But then Ranko looped Akane's soul around the panther's neck.

Akane felt something inside herself wrench open. It hurt and it felt _wrong_. Gasping, Akane tried to fling herself away, but the three of them fenced her in. The pain ratcheted higher and higher into agony, until it felt like she was being impaled through the intestines by a rusty pipe.

Ranma reached over her body, quickly yanking out a strand of Ranko's hair and a bit of his own. Taking advantage of Akane's distraction, he swiftly used them to tie shut the loop of Akane's soul, forming it into a makeshift collar around the panther's neck. As soon as he tied off the knot of hair and spirit, and lifted away his fingers, the pain immediately dulled to a throbbing ache.

The opening in Akane's spirit slammed shut, but not all of the way. Something had forced its way inside with her, and left the way back cracked open. Something not-Akane curled up in an Akane-only place. She felt violated.

When the three stepped back, Akane was shaking with residual pain and shock. Feelings of betrayal and rage throbbed like a sore tooth. "What did you do?" Akane demanded hoarsely, but she suspected that she already knew. Someone had just been collared, and it hadn't been Ranma's cat spirit. Akane wanted to violently scream and hit Ranma, all three Ranmas.

No one answered her question. Suddenly, all three Ranmas turned to look at the portal at the base of the hill. In the silence between moments, Akane felt something vibrate across the pores of her skin like Morse code_. I love you_, it howled without making a sound, the message quaking through her body. Akane gasped and staggered.

Then she distantly heard her name from outside the portal. It was Ranma. He was screaming for her.

Knocked out of her anger, Akane whipped around to look out the shimmering portal. She needed time to think about what had just happened, but there _was_ no time. Ranma needed her. In such a situation, over a year of instincts urged her to come running. Yet did he deserve that after what he'd just done? Conflicted, she didn't know which way to turn. The panther purred encouragingly and tugged her towards the portal by the leash.

Ranma needed her. She had to go. She'd figure out the rest of it later. Giving into the pull, Akane went back through the portal. Everything faded to black.

* * *

When Akane finally woke up again, the fiery pain was gone. Only faint remnants of her nightmares lingered. Most of it she couldn't remember. Her head finally felt clear and she was thirsty. Looking around, she found herself in a very plain room that she didn't recognize. A small wooden table, a dresser, and a chair were the only furniture besides the futon. Outside the window, she could see familiar pine trees.

When Mariko walked into the room carrying a tray, Akane asked, "Are we back at your temple?"

Cutlery rattled on the tray as the female monk jumped in surprise. "You're awake more quickly than I expected." Mariko smiled warmly, "Good!" Putting the tray down she answered, "and yes, we are back home."

Kneeling down, Mariko put the back of her hand on Akane's forehead and then her cheek, checking her temperature. "Your fever broke last night. Happily, it doesn't seem to be coming back. Now, drink your medicine," Mariko ordered kindly.

Akane grimaced at the smell coming from the cup Mariko held out, but dutifully took it in her weak grasp and quickly gulped it down.

"Blech!" Akane gasped when she finished.

Chuckling, Mariko replied, "Oh hush up, it's good for you. Now, someone has been very anxious for you to wake up."

Going to the window, which was barely big enough for Mariko to stick her head out, the woman whistled loudly. Then she came back over, propped Akane up with some pillows, and took a seat.

"Who?" Akane asked, but a few seconds later she heard a rapid thumping sound that seemed to come from the hallway outside her door. "Ranma…" Akane whispered her guess as a smile bowed her lips.

She was right, but not exactly in the way she had expected. Rounding the corner in a bounding run, Ranko raced over to the side of the futon and skidded to a stop. The two girls' eyes met for a heart-stopping moment before Ranko gingerly climbed up on the futon, somehow mindful of Akane's injuries, draped herself over Akane's legs, and started purring like mad.

"Wha…." For a moment, Akane felt a strange flash of resentment towards catfist Ranko. Confused, she shook her head sharply and looked down into Ranko's hopeful blue eyes. Unconsciously, her fingers lifted and began to scratch Ranko's head, which somehow impossibly increased the volume of her purring. Distracted, Akane asked, "Why is she still like this? Why didn't she change back?"

Mariko looked bewildered. "Change back to what? Isn't this her normal state?"

Akane felt agitation as she struggled to answer Mariko's questions. When Ranko nudged her hand to remind her to keep scratching, Akane took a deep breath slowly ran her fingers again through the girl's silky red hair. Then she began to explain about Ranma and his crazy curses. It was hard to know where to start, so she decided to briefly skim through the sex changing and then leap into the catfist.

As she petted Ranko's head, she found herself soothed and comforted, despite her lingering weakness. Tense areas of her body relaxed into the futon. Ranko was like P-chan, only better because she could warm large areas of her body at once.

_Except she's not a pet, she's Ranma and a PERSON, remember? A person who often acts like a jerk,_ Akane reminded herself. _A person who will want to be a male person instead of a female cat as soon as possible, and whom you shouldn't be petting._ _So stop it._

It took effort, but Akane forced herself to remove her hand from temptation and tuck it under her sheet. Ranko shot her a grumpy but contented look, and settled even more firmly on top of her legs, closing her eyes to take a nap. The warmth made Akane's eyes heavy.

"So only some old woman in his neighborhood could change her," Mariko paused and coughed politely, "I mean him, back to normal? If so, that could explain why she's still acting like a cat." Mariko examined Ranma curiously, "the right person isn't here to calm her down."

Akane wanted to tell Mariko that changing Ranko from a girl to a boy with hot water should work too… and she would just as soon as she could get her eyelids to open. Hot water for… the cat…. Sleep sucked her under.

TO BE CONTINUED

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AN: Hey, a not as short chapter! So for those of you who've read my oneshot "Broken Glass," what did you think about the similarities and differences with Akane's brush with death? I ended up using some of the dialog from the Viz media English translation of the last manga for Ranma, to hint at a connection between the waking world and the spirit realm. The two lines used were the middle ones about "I'm really lame at this stuff," and "I never told you how I felt." Plus his projected thought of 'I love you.' Did anyone recognize them? What did you think about the complexities of the actions taken? My first draft was a bit waffy, but then during editing I started adding a bit of description and my muse hijacked it and it got a bit dark.

To answer the reviewer question, you pronounce my name as the words,"indigo dusk."

Ramblings1: The reference to Akane's other dream about sewing a hakama was a homage to my first fic, "Hakama Dake." After being asked a few questions in a recent review, I went back and reread it for the first time in years. I am simultaneously both very proud and slightly embarrassed. I totally went overboard with my descriptions, especially on eye color. Ack! I wonder if it is even worth it to go back and try to cut an editing swath through the thing. I am quite proud of a couple of those descriptive paragraphs though, which do sound cool. I also noticed a phrase from a Dixie Chicks song, "take the warnings as wisdom." Pride and Prejudice also snuck in somehow, with Sano teasing Kaoru and then staring at her smirking until she snaps, "Stop it, Sanosuke." That is a spitting image of the 6 hour Colin Firth P&P when Lizzie is mildly teasing Jane about Mr. Bingly by smirking at her justifications, until Jane snaps, "Stop it, Lizzie." Silly me. Also, how did I write three solid chapters of nothing but making out? I certainly surprised myself in rereading it, as I'd forgotten a lot. Part of it had to stem from the fact that I was saving myself for marriage. Now that I am happily married and not frustrated, I don't think I could write the story the same way. But I'm still proud of it. I also thought it was clear when I wrote it that they didn't go all the way, but rereading it, I now see all of these vague moments when you could totally use your own imagination to make things get more explicit. Hmm. Rereading it also made me more aware of how my new stories might disappoint or confuse people looking for a sensual feast instead of a story more focused plot/action/drama and only moments of sensuality. But I've been trying to stretch my skill level! I'm glad that some of you decided to give me a chance anyways, though. Thanks!

Ranmbling2: I just discovered this awesome manga called "1/2 Prince." It's Chinese, but has been translated in English up to volume 8 by Odd Squad Scanlation group online. It has gender bending, bishies, comedy, romance, MMORPGs, and even a homage to Kenshin. Yays! Any online manga recs for me?

Thank you very much for reading and PLEASE REVIEW!


	13. Juice Ads and Static on the Radio

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and its characters do not belong to me.

AN: Sorry for the long wait! So the halcyon era of quick updates has come to an end, as we're all now well aware. I'm almost out of pre-written scenes, my muse added an awesome but new twist requiring a rewrite and reimaging of some stuff, and my research, teaching, and church responsibilities have all increased, leading to less free time. Perhaps I should have reserved those chapters a few months ago so I could update more regularly now, but I don't have that kind of patience or willpower. Thanks for those who sent messages urging me to continue (like ryu238)!

2: Going through the mother of all storms in the Midwest right now. Five tornado warnings in the last six hours, yikes! I type the last of this on battery power by candlelight for you, serenaded by cracks and rumbles of thunder. (Yay, I survived!)

* * *

**No more pussyfooting around**: a Ranma ½ fanfic

By Indygodusk

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**Chapter 13: Juice Ads and Static on the Radio**

_Akane wanted to tell Mariko that changing Ranko from a girl to a boy with hot water should work too… and she would just as soon as she could get her eyelids to open. Hot water for… the cat…. Sleep sucked her under._

* * *

When Akane woke up again, Ranko was a warm weight sitting by her side, staring intently out the window. The redhead had clasped her arms loosely around one leg, with her cheek resting on her knee and her shoulders bowed. A shaft of sunlight, glittering with floating particles of dust, streamed down onto her head. The light brought out metallic gold highlights in her red hair and shadowed the furrows in her brow. Ranko's face looked both sad and wistful. It broke Akane's heart a little bit to see it.

"I'll fix it soon," Akane promised drowsily in a slightly raspy voice.

Ranko turned quickly and grabbed Akane's hand. "Akane, you're awake!" she exclaimed. Relief surged across the redhead's face. "Are you okay? What happened to us?"

Ranko's convulsive grip made the knuckles in Akane's hand crack loudly, but Akane barely noticed. She was still processing that Ranko, who'd been acting like a cat the last time few times Akane had been awake, had spoken. _Which meant…_ "You got out of the catfist without hot water. That's wonderful, Ranma! How did you do it?"

Frustration twisted Ranko's mouth as she answered, "I don't know. In fact, I don't know anything that's going on! All I remember is that we got attacked and kidnapped. I woke up soaking wet in a cave to find that you'd rescued both of us, and then there was a big group of ca-ca-cats. I musta passed out or gone into the catfist or something."

Ranko paused and looked at her questioningly.

"It was the catfist," Akane confirmed. "You ran those other cats off."

"Well, that's something I guess, least I wasn't just unconscious," Ranko groused. "Wish I could remember, but anyways, I have flashes of maybe a kitchen or hallway after that. Next thing I know, I woke up in this room, curled up around your body," Akane blushed, but Ranko seemed too caught up in her explanation to notice, "with you lying there next to me looking as pale as-," she paused for a second, overcome, and then forced her cracking voice to continue, "pale as death. Then some old lady came in and told me your fever had just broke." Ranko looked away guiltily and took a deep breath. "I guess you got sick from getting soaked and then having to sleep outside in a cold cave after you rescued us."

Akane opened her mouth to correct her, but Ranko kept talking, her voice taking on a tinge of self-loathing. "Thanks for saving me and stuff, and I'm sorry I proved to be so useless."

"Ranma…" Akane wasn't sure quite where to start, how to explain that he'd taken out probably half a fortress all by himself. She wasn't used to Ranma sounding so defeated. "You may not remember what happened, but you certainly weren't useless!" Before Akane could say anything else, Mariko came back into the room.

"I brought hot water," Mariko caroled happily. "I can't wait to see this change you told me about, Ranko."

Putting on a fake smile, Ranko thanked her. Then, taking the teapot, Ranko poured a quick stream of hot water onto her head. Mariko gasped.

No matter how many times Akane had seen the transformation, she always found it fascinating to watch. The lush tint of Ranko's hair seemed to stream down her braid and slough off with the water droplets as brownish-black rapidly replaced red. Ranko's chin gained definition and stubble, her chest and hips shrank while her shoulders broadened, and her limbs grew longer and more muscular.

A split second later only Ranma the man remained. Times like this forced Akane to notice the strength and beauty of his body, including the sexy shape of his lips. Sometimes the attraction hit Akane like a blow square on the chest, cutting off her breath.

Ranma's lips were actually the same shape in both forms; they never changed. She'd checked. But the almost overwhelming curiosity about their taste, the desire to trace that seam with little flicks of her tongue and see how he reacted, if he'd blush or gasp or growl…. Those thoughts only reared up when he was male (male and not annoying her). In recent months, it had become an urge that was getting harder and harder to suppress.

Ranma, oblivious, adjusted his belt around his now slender male hips. "Huh," he said softly as he fingered the notch cut into the leather and tile on his puzzle belt, where the would-be rapist had tried to cut it off. "How did that happen? And on a new gift too…" he complained to himself.

Since he was examining his belt, he didn't see Akane's face go white at his question. Her mind spun frantically. How would she explain this to Ranma without him freaking out? Did she have to tell him everything? What had almost happened… she did not want to relive that again. In fact, she'd rather just forget it had ever happened.

"Wow, that's so neat!" Mariko exclaimed, unaware of Akane's tension. "Can we do it again?" she asked, her eyes widening like a delighted child's, erasing years of wrinkles.

"I'm not a toy," Ranma complained. But seeing Mariko's childlike pleading expression start to fall, he sighed. "Fine, whatever, go ahead."

Delighted, Mariko poured a cup of cold water from a pitcher on the table and turned him back into a girl, and then a boy again. She did this a few more times until she was satisfied.

"Thanks for being such a good sport," Mariko finally said to Ranma as she resumed her mature image and handed him a towel.

Turning back to Akane, she declared, "Now, I'm afraid it's time for your next dose of medicine." Walking over to Akane, she held out a gently steaming mug that had gone unnoticed on the tray with the teapot.

Distracted from her thoughts, Akane glared at the mug weakly. "Do I have to? I'm feeling better now." The trembling of the hand she'd raised in supplication proved her words as lies.

"Yes, you do," Mariko answered cheerfully. "Now, down the hatch!"

Akane propped herself up on one elbow to accept the mug. Taking it, she closed her eyes, tipped her head back, and gulped the medicine down as quickly as possible, trying not to gag. It tasted even worse this time. Absentmindedly, she noticed her sheet starting to slip down her from her neck to pool on her lap.

When she reopened her eyes, she noticed that Ranma was facing the doorway and looked flush.

"I turned around before I saw anything," Ranma said defensively. Though it _had_ taken him a few seconds to turn his appreciative gaze away from how she looked with her head thrown back, her elegant throat undulating as she swallowed.

Ranma tried to tell himself that he was just tired. It was an image of vitality, nothing like the specter of death that had teased him when he'd first woken to see her pale form. That or the scene had merely reminded him of a commercial for a new juice he liked.

_Yes, it must be some juice ad_, he told himself firmly. It was just habit to watch someone in that pose. But his heart knew better. It whispered that he could lie to others, but not to himself.

Akane enticed and entranced Ranma more than any model drinking a bottle of juice ever could. It was ridiculous. Even sweaty, rumpled, and ill, to him, she still seemed to radiate something that left him absolutely mesmerized. He found it difficult to turn away from her. Sometimes back in what passed for normal life in Nerima, he found it difficult to remember why he should even try.

However, when her blanket slipped and he saw the creamy skin of her bare shoulder start to appear, habit kicked in, and Ranma had quickly flipped around. He wanted to avoid a beating. After all, he'd only just barely regained human consciousness. He preferred to savor it rather than be knocked out again and lose even more time this week.

All of his planning and scheming for this trip had come to naught. Not only had he failed to give Akane a reason to clarify their engagement, he'd also gotten her kidnapped again and proved quite spectacularly that she didn't need him. In fact, all that this trip had shown was that _he_ needed _her_, and he already knew that.

Sometimes, he wished he didn't. It would make his life so much easier.

Ranma could win against anything and anyone. He might have to temporarily lose a few rounds before figuring out a good strategy, but he never gave up and, ultimately, he triumphed. That's how it worked when Ranma Saotome entered a competition. At least, that's what he used to think.

But with Akane, his 'never say die' strategy hadn't worked because during one of his fights Akane _had_ died. Sure, she had somehow come back to life, but that event had shaken his confidence. Ever since, he had felt slightly hollow, as if physically missing something. He hid it well, but his belief in his ability to always win, especially when it came to something involving Akane, wasn't a foregone conclusion anymore.

That realization had affected other things in his life too. He had a new caution in accepting challenges. He still accepted them, and was pretty confident in beating them, but he made sure to do more research on his opponents. All of their allies or minions, anyone who might even think to interfere with Akane while he was distracted, were tallied and planned for.

To be honest, Ranma enjoyed the new strategy and detail involved in his recent fights. The difficulty suited his maturing need for more complex challenges. It took smarts to outmaneuver multiple enemies at once, to meet their attacks both from the shadows and from the front. Sometimes Ranma wished he could boast of it to Akane, but then she might get the wrong idea, or rather, the right idea of his need for her admiration. Besides, a true man shouldn't get too cocky.

Oh, who was he kidding? He hadn't held back because of any sort of humility. He'd held back because, knowing Akane, she'd try to follow along after him. When she caught up, she'd either lecture him on all of the ways that he could do his spying better, or else end up captured and needing rescue. Whatever the case, Akane hadn't caught on to his new covert activities yet. He could tell.

Ranma could tell because recently something between them had changed. Lately, he could sometimes sense Akane and know exactly where she was in relation to himself, even on the other side of the city. Ever since they'd come back from China, a part of his brain had become like a radio station filled with static. At unexpected moments, the signal sharpened until he could sense to the millimeter exactly where Akane was in relation to himself.

The first time, he'd followed the sensation for over twenty minutes until he'd ended up in a park. It had led him to a swing set. Staring in surprise, he'd watched Akane's legs pumping mightily on a swing as her toes reached for the sky. He hadn't seen her face from his position by the fence, but the curve of her calves and the sweet tension in her back had shouted her identity to him as easily as a profile would have to other men. It felt like a loop of cord bound the two of them together.

Then the sensation had disappeared and Ranma had retreated back around the corner, breathing hard.

[To be continued]

* * *

AN:** Thank you so much** for coming back after my hiatus. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I'll try to be better about updates. I actually saved the next 5 pages so I could give you a timely update in a few days. Please let me know what you think!


	14. Tuning in on Akane

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and its characters do not belong to me.

AN: Thank you so much for reading and giving my story a chance! Thanks also for the support! Good luck to everyone out there trying to find a job, too. My mom and sister both got laid off this month. Boo. But here is fanfic escapist therapy for us all.

* * *

**No more pussyfooting around**: a Ranma ½ fanfic

By Indygodusk

* * *

**Chapter 14: Tuning in on Akane**

_The first time, he'd followed the sensation for over twenty minutes until he'd ended up in a park. It had led him to a swing set. Staring in surprise, he'd watched Akane's legs pumping mightily on a swing as her toes reached for the sky. He hadn't seen her face from his position by the fence, but the curve of her calves and the sweet tension in her back had shouted her identity to him as easily as a profile would have to other men. It felt like a loop of cord bound the two of them together. _

_Then the sensation had disappeared and Ranma had retreated back around the corner, breathing hard._

For the next hour, no matter how hard he focused on it, he received only static. He couldn't sense her beyond the faint flutter of ki that only became apparent when he snuck up close. So he took a deep breath, stopped straining, and settled in to wait.

Years of training had taught Ranma that sometimes you had to distract your mind with something else in order to let a technique settle into the muscles. This sensing of Akane might just be a new technique he was picking up. Ranma decided to try distracting himself for a little while and see if it worked. If not, he'd simply hunker down and stalk the sensation, ready to pounce the next time it appeared.

Over the next few weeks and months, his waiting paid off. The sensation repeated itself again and again. It came inconsistently, and the length of time he could sense Akane varied. A few times, the unexpected opening of that channel would leave him more depleted of energy than the exertion of the day could explain. His punches seemed to come slightly slower and require a bit more effort.

The first few times, he noticed that Akane seemed more bouncy than usual. However, he thought that it was just his own fatigue talking. After all, he reasoned, if she was somehow receiving energy from him, wouldn't she say or do something? It wasn't like Akane to pass up an excuse to wrangle with him. She'd probably resent any tie between them, too, he told himself with a pang.

Ranma wasn't sure what it meant, but he didn't mention it to Doctor Tofu. The Doctor might try to eliminate this strange tie between him and Akane, and Ranma didn't want that. He liked knowing Akane's exact location. In fact, he had come to crave the sensation.

During those times when the static cleared, Ranma could sense the orientation of each of her limbs in relation to himself. He could almost feel her breath ghosting across his neck. Sometimes, he could even taste a phantom saltiness on the tip of his tongue that corresponded to the scent of Akane's skin. It was becoming harder to repress the urge to sneak up behind Akane and lick the spot where her shoulder curved up to her throat to compare her real taste against the phantom sensations. When the awareness of Akane faded, it always left him feeling hollow for hours afterwards.

Last month, he'd sensed Akane across town. He'd only had a minute to enjoy it, because after that he'd matched up the sensation of her body with his mental map of the town and figured out where Akane was located. She was inside a restaurant that Ranma had visited the night before.

He'd gone there the night before because he had received a new challenge. He didn't end up fighting though, because his opponent wanted to draw things out and try to intimidate Ranma. It wouldn't work, but Ranma was wary. His challenger had boasted that he'd crippled his previous opponent, a once-cheerful man that Ranma knew. He'd sometimes joined Ranma in the park where he escaped to do tai chi away from his father. Although defeated, he'd still managed to summon a friendly smile when Ranma visited him in the hospital that morning. It was his wife who'd told Ranma how the challenger had laughed as he and his friends burned down their dojo.

Some fights and rivals were fun spectacles that Ranma liked to enjoy as long as possible. He tried not to defeat those rivals too quickly, so they'd come back. They kept him entertained and on his toes.

As he got older though, he'd run into other fighters that lacked any redeeming qualities. Some people shouldn't be played with, they should just be taken down. His current match fell into that category. This one wasn't going to be pretty, and he wouldn't be playing.

Ranma hadn't mentioned it to Akane. Justice needed to be served, after all, and Ranma intended to do it. But he planned to be more vicious than usual in the fight. He didn't want Akane involved. After considering all of the ways that Akane could inconvenience and annoy him (her possibly getting hurt and making him worry had very little to do with it, he told himself), Ranma had decided to hide the challenge from her. After all, his challenger and Akane didn't even need to know that the other existed.

When Ranma sensed that Akane's location corresponded to the restaurant owned by his brutal challenger, his heart had stuttered in fear. Thoughts rioting, he swore that he had kept her out of it, hadn't let any of those lowlifes know about her, much less how much he cared for her. _How had they found out?_ he'd raged.

Running and roof hopping at top speed, it had still taken him almost fifteen minutes to get there. Visions of Akane being threatened, tied up, or worse kept streaking like meteors through his mind, the impact of each scenario crumbling his hopes for her safety into gravel.

Even worse were the quick images bubbling up from his memory like bile, pictures of Akane's body, wan in death, lying limp in his arms. Viciously he kept pushing the images down, trying to focus on the cord telling him that Akane was sitting in a chair, still alive. That she was fine.

When he finally arrived at the restaurant, it was only to see Akane strolling out of the door with her friend Yuka. They walked right by the scumbag and his cronies as Ranma prepared to sweep her away to safety, but by some stroke of luck, the men didn't even look up.

Suddenly, the cord sending him messages about Akane went silent, and Ranma stumbled at the loss of sensation. Collapsing against the wall of a nearby ally, he watched as Akane convinced Yuka to hand over her heavy bags and then, both hands full, walked down to the corner and into the subway station.

No one followed her. It must have all just been a coincidence, he decided. Relieved, he let his head hang down and watched as a bead of water dripped off of his sweat-soaked bangs. A second later, he heard a "meow" by his feet. Panicked, he took off running in the opposite direction.

Several hours later, he woke up in the canal. Soaking wet and in a bad mood, he went home. After checking on Akane, safe and sound in her room, he retreated up to the roof to think. He realized that he used to be able to resist the catfist by running away. Lately though, it had seemed like he slipped easily into the catfist, with the least bit of stimulus.

The next day, he'd destroyed the brutish restaurateur in their fight. Ranma 'accidentally' destroyed his restaurant during the fight too, just in case Akane had any ideas about going back there to eat again. His heart couldn't take another scare like that.

On the way home, he'd run into another cat and slipped into the catfist once again, as seamlessly as a seal slips into water. He'd barely even had time to notice there was a cat nearby. Surfacing in the Tendo pond with Akane standing over him, a strange look on her face, Ranma had felt a tight knot of dread tense his belly.

He didn't know what Akane was thinking when she looked at him that way: disgust, fear, or pity? He didn't know how to deal with this lack of control. Most of all, he didn't know what he did during the catfist, and he hated that.

Once he'd changed himself back to a man, he'd spent the rest of the evening wearing himself out doing brutal exercises designed by his pops. They were meant for brief 10-15 minute surges, but Ranma kept at them for hours. Kasumi had come to call him in to dinner, but he'd ignored her and kept on going. After a few minutes she'd given up and gone back inside.

After three intense hours, there wasn't a muscle on his body that didn't burn with agony. He'd already had a tiring day before starting these exercises. Ranma knew he needed to stop soon or else he was going to injure himself. Then Akane came with a tray to try and get him eat. Seeing her only reminded him of his loss of control in the catfist, and of her strange look all over again. To make matters worse, she also knew just what to say to irritate him in two seconds flat.

Suddenly, it became an issue of pride that Ranma wouldn't stop until _he_ wanted to stop. This, he could control. And she couldn't make him go and eat if he didn't want to.

Yet his sore and trembling body _needed_ to stop. Angry, Ranma tried to reach inside for some untapped well of strength. If he wanted to keep going, then he would. If he injured himself, then he'd deal with it later. In this state of mind, his lashing will reached down, lurched sideways through a dimple in his aura that he'd been ignoring for months, latched onto something, and _pulled_.

Immediately Ranma felt strength surge into his body. The pain melted away like butter on a hot skillet. It felt like a flush of endorphins, but even better. Surprise, not soreness, made him finally stop his movements for the first time that night. Curious, he dropped into a mild meditative state to examine his ki and the source of this new energy.

Then he heard Akane whimper, and a crash as she dropped his dinner tray. "I'm sorry," Akane said faintly. Then she put her palm up to her left eye and pressed.

"What's wrong," Ranma asked as he rushed to her side.

Weakly Akane leaned against the doorway. "A headache appeared out of nowhere. It feels like a steel spike just went through my brain," she whispered.

Concerned, Ranma put his arm around her waist to steady her. Akane swayed slightly, and Ranma realized that he could once again sense her in his mind and the way her body nestled against his side, but in a way much more clear than he ever had before. At the same time, he felt more energy pour into his body.

Then Ranma put two and two together, and realized that he was draining these pulses of energy _from_ _Akane_. Horrified, he pinched closed the cord, turned off the channel from Akane, and released her.

Averting his face, Ranma crouched down and began cleaning up the spilled food. "I'll get this, if you want to go and lie down," he offered shakily.

Akane sighed. "Thanks, Ranma, and sorry…." Then she stumbled into the yard, back to the house, and up to her room.

Appalled at what he'd done, _and what _had_ he just done?_ Ranma cleaned up the dojo and then got himself some food from the kitchen. After taking a bath, Ranma went up to the roof to try and think.

His mind circled around the problem over and over, but he couldn't come to any firm conclusion. He shouldn't be able to draw energy from someone like that. Yet he'd just taken energy from Akane, and without her realizing what he was doing too. That was wrong.

In spite of that, Ranma liked being able to sense Akane. _He liked it a lot._ But if he could hurt her, he should tell someone about this so they could sever the connection. The thought made his heart howl in protest.

Then a sly voice in his head whispered that a danger acknowledged was a danger avoided. Now that he knew that he could draw energy from her, and what it felt like, he could make sure never to do it again. They must be tied together for a reason, that same voice whispered… and Ranma greedily wanted to accept the justification to keep their connection a secret.

Yet if this could harm her in any way, he had to end it. Keeping her safe was more important. Nodding his head sharply, Ranma promised himself to go and talk to Doctor Tofu tomorrow.

A few streets over, a trash can rattled and two cats started to yowl. Startled, Ranma jumped up and hurried back into the house. Pausing by Akane's door momentarily to listen to her faintly snoring, he relaxed minutely and continued in to bed.

That night, Ranma had a nightmare.

In it, Akane had been murdered while he was in the catfist. Since he was a cat, he hadn't even cared. Then, in the dream, someone had splashed him with water and brought him back to his senses. He'd been just around the corner from Akane's cooling body, but since he didn't remember her death, he hadn't turned back.

Instead, he'd strolled over to Ukyo's for a snack. When he'd gotten there, Ukyo had given him some hot water to change back to a man and "to wash off." He'd asked what she meant, and she'd pointed to the blood streaking his arms – Akane's blood. Even then, his dream-self had merely washed it off as if it was nothing. As if Akane's blood meant _nothing_.

Next, Ryoga had burst into the shop holding Akane's limp body. Her eyes were filmed over in death and her throat, black and crimson with clotted blood, clawed open by some animal. In the shocked silence you could hear blood dripping off her dangling hand and spattering onto Ukyo's polished floorboards.

A few seconds, or was it hours, later, Ryoga had slowly lifted his hand and pointed his finger at Ranma, naming him murderer. Horrified, Ranma had staggered back, shaking his head frantically in denial. In everyone's eyes he saw the same thing: condemnation.

His dream-self couldn't even deny anything, because he couldn't remember that he _hadn't_ killed her while in the catfist, couldn't remember that he hadn't killed _Akane_.

Ranma woke with a sobbing gasp. Running into Akane's room, he roughly pulled back her covers. He hadn't cared about anything but making sure that she still lived, that his dream of her death had been false.

By some stroke of luck, Akane didn't wake up at his handling. Possibly this was due to the headache medicine she had taken, but at that moment he didn't really care. Akane only rolled over with a grumble, kicked out her leg absently, and buried her face into her pillow with a sigh. Ranma collapsed next to her bed with a strangled moan and bit his lip. As soon as his breathing steadied, he wiped away the moisture from his face with her bed ruffle.

As his hand reached forward to cover her back up with the blanket, the light from the moon cast a black, clawed shadow across her throat. Ranma flinched, reminded of his dream, and found himself scrabbling backwards until his shoulders hit the wall.

"It was just a dream," he whispered to himself in a wavering voice. Then he forced himself to repeat it more steadily, "It was just a dream." As his gaze locked onto the rise and fall of her back as she breathed, the channel between them sprang to life. He clung to the sensation like a drowning man to a life preserver.

Nevertheless, it took him several minutes to stop the shaking in his hands. When he finally regained control of himself, Ranma came forward and slid her blanket back up over her shoulders. Then he knelt next to her bed for the rest of the night, just listening to her breathing and watching the fluctuations of her ki. At the first rays of dawn, he reluctantly stood and returned to his room.

Only the existence of that mental thread allowed him to walk away. The thrumming signal that she breathed in a bed just down the hall kept him sane. He knew that he couldn't give that connection up now, not for anything or any reason.

That night's vigil had also given birth to another conviction: he needed to let Akane know how he felt. Not only to give himself a chance to win her heart and be with her forever, but so that she could use that knowledge if necessary to protect herself. He wanted her safe from harm. He needed to protect her.

But did that mean safe from himself? Yet he needed her nearby, so that he could always _know_ that she was safe. Bad things would happen if Akane wasn't safe.

Ranma couldn't explain better than that, because every time he tried to think about it, his mind became a swirling vortex that heralded an incipient panic attack, and his consciousness had to flee to another subject or else get sucked down into madness. Sitting against the wall of Akane's bedroom at four thirty in the morning, it had all been muddled up in his head to somehow make sense.

Nevertheless, before going back to bed, Ranma had made a vow to stop stalling. He would get her away from all of the craziness and show another side of himself that she could count on and admire. Then he'd win her open affection and love.

Ranma just had to make her need him. If Akane wanted words, he'd give her words, because if he could make her need him, she'd never want to leave. And so over the next few weeks he'd concocted this scam to get her to come alone with him to a shrine in Okinawa.

Earlier this morning, Ranma had woken up next to a fitfully sleeping Akane. They were alone together in a shrine in Okinawa, as he'd intended. Yet nothing had gone according to his plan. The irony was killing him. Stomach churning, he'd scoured his memory for answers, yet it remained a large, ignorant blank. How she'd gotten so pale and tattered had escaped him.

That's when he'd realized it. He had lost this round. Ranma had lost the chance to express his feelings and ask for hers, to make himself needed, and it was entirely his own fault. At the cave he'd still had some hope. After waking up to Akane's white face, though, hope was nowhere to be found. If hope was the thing with feathers (whatever that English poem had meant by that), then his cat side had eaten it, regurgitated the remains, and buried them too deeply for his human side to find even a trace.

Shaking away such thoughts as he waited for Akane's response, Ranma told himself that he just needed to eat something. After that, he'd fight one of the monks to sweat out these bitter feelings. Then he'd be back to his usual confident self.

Waiting for Akane's reply to his ogling of her creamy skin above the slipping blanket, Ranma just hoped it didn't involve a head blow. He needed his wits about him to bounce back from this funk and reassume his cocky attitude.

Akane, confused by Ranma's, 'I turned around before I saw anything,' looked down. "Saw anything of what?" she asked. Someone had put her in a comfortably loose top while she'd been feverish. The ragged neckline looked to have stretched out with repeated wear. It was so stretched out, in fact, that the collar had slipped off to bare her shoulder on one side. It didn't look like she'd spilled anything on herself or done anything embarrassing though, so what was he talking about?

"Like I'd want to look at your naked body anyways, geeze," Ranma defended brusquely. "I'd go blind."

"I'm not naked, you pervert," Akane growled as her trembling elbow forced her body to lie back down. If she'd had the energy, she would have thrown her cup at his head. Before she'd thought of it though, the cup had rolled from her slack hand, off the edge of the futon, and onto the floor.

Mariko laughed heartily at the two of them. "Not now, but you've been sleeping on her bed all week, Ranma, snuggled up close. She was sometimes naked then, don't you remember?"

Red stained his cheeks. Ranma hunched his shoulders, peeped back at them quickly, and then turned farther away from them both and growled. "I don't remember nothing when I'm a cat, Akane knows that."

"But you both wish you did, eh," Mariko chuckled.

"Like I'd want someone like him-" Akane began to argue, but before she could finish her sentence, a huge yawn took over her mouth. She wanted to protest more, but suddenly she felt swamped with exhaustion. She could barely keep her eyes open.

Still chuckling, Mariko walked over and picked up the mug Akane had knocked onto the floor. "It's time for you to sleep. You're not all healed up just yet. After that, someone needs to talk to you."

"As for you, Ranma," she paused and suddenly became serious. "If you really are a man, you're going to have to leave."

Confusion and the beginnings of anger pried Akane's eyes open. "What are you talking about?"

"Only women are allowed here, no exceptions. Not even for boys who can turn into girls with cold water," Mariko explained without softening her tone. "I'd hoped to talk to you more, but that'll have to happen some other time. You'll be welcomed just fine at the men's temple down the mountain. When Akane feels up to travelling, she can join you there."

_But I want him with ME,_ Akane wanted to whine.

"Besides," Mariko continued, "he's useless here."

"But," Akane started to protest softly through her fatigue, but Ranma interrupted her.

"No, she's right." His face still turned away from them, Ranma avoided Akane's eyes. "I am _useless_," his voice twisted at the word. "I'll…" he swallowed, "I'll see you later. You're a tomboy, so you should heal fast anyways." With that, he strode into the hallway and out of sight.

Picking up the mug, Mariko patted her on the shoulder and left the room. Exhausted, Akane felt first one tear, and then another trickle down her cheeks as she turned her face into the pillow. _You're not useless to me, _she thought,_ not at all. _ Then Akane surrendered to sleep.

To Be Continued….

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AN: Next time, Akane gets a mysterious visitor and Ranma is manipulative and sneaky. Then our intrepid heroes return home to Nerima. Probably. I'm starting to teach a new hybrid 8-week biology class next week, so the update time for the next chapter is iffy. I kept my promise for this chapter though, and updated in less than a week. Yay me! We'll cross our fingers and hope for the best on the next one.


	15. Gossip and Chakras

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and its characters do not belong to me.

AN: Thanks for being patient!

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**No more pussyfooting around**: a Ranma ½ fanfic

By Indygodusk

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**Chapter 15: Gossip and Chakras**

"_No, she's right." His face still turned away from them, Ranma avoided Akane's eyes. "I am useless," his voice twisted at the word. "I'll…" he swallowed, "I'll see you later. You're a tomboy, so you should heal fast anyways." With that, he strode into the hallway and out of sight._

_Picking up the mug, Mariko patted her on the shoulder and left the room. Exhausted, Akane felt first one tear, and then another trickle down her cheeks as she turned her face into the pillow. You're not useless to me, she thought, not at all. Then Akane surrendered to sleep. _

Distant feminine laughter gently dragged Akane from her slumber. Blinking open gummy eyes, she couldn't help but smile at the sound. Turning onto her back, she started to fling out her limbs in a big stretch, but the sharp pain in her side quickly aborted the movement. _Injured, right…_ she reminded herself as she slowly got up from her sickbed.

After washing her face, using the bathroom, and putting on some new clothing she found folded up on a chair, she felt almost as good as new. Her body barely ached at all.

_At least, that's what she'd say if anyone asked. _Truth be told, she felt like a herd of zebra with lots of sharp little hooves had stampeded across her body, followed by a pursuing lioness who'd absentmindedly clawed Akane's side open as she'd leapt after her prey.

Nevertheless, she felt better than she had yesterday. Akane was awake, moving around, and not in danger of immediately falling back asleep. After making her bed, she cautiously opened her door. The sounds of female merriment drifted to her ears again. Smiling, she slowly shuffled down the hallway in search of the sound.

Rounding the corner, she walked through an open doorway into bright sunlight. Blinking her eyes a few times, her eyes finally adjusted enough for her to make out a dining room lined with windows. All but one of the tables was empty. From the sounds of the boisterous laughter, Akane had expected at least six people, but in fact, the table only held three women. The only one Akane recognized was Mariko. The other two also looked to be in their forties. They hadn't noticed her entrance, and continued on with their conversation.

"So then he said, 'I can crush a beer can with one hand,' and then, I kid you not, thrust his weedy bicep in front of my face and flexed. Not only did he smell bad, but after all that bragging a muscle only the size of a walnut –_maybe_- popped up. I told him that if the size of his bicep matched the size of what he had below, I wasn't interested." Raucous laughter punctuated the story, told by an attractive, older-looking blond. Her color had to come from a bottle, considering her black eyebrows and Asian features.

She continued talking as Akane drifted closer. "Then he tried to grab me, ME, can you believe the nerve! So I collapsed the empty keg next to me with a forefinger, flipped him off, and sauntered away. Poor puppy spent five minutes sulking in a dark corner before slinking off."

"Men!" exclaimed Mariko with disgust.

"Yes, yes," remarked the third woman, who had a petite stature and a pixie haircut threaded with gray. "But we all know you, Sachi. You didn't really succeed in leaving this party alone, did you?"

Akane felt rather confused. This sounded more like the kind of conversation you'd hear in a hair salon. Yet this was an all-women martial arts shrine with a strict policy _against_ men.

"Even though," Mariko paused, and then continued in a scarily accurate imitation of Sachi's voice, "I really am giving up men this time, I mean it! I'll take my vows the next time I come, come by myself, that is, since I'm giving up men." All three women snorted and cackled at this, Sachi loudest of all.

"You know me too well!" she howled with mirth as she pounded her fist on the table.

Considering that the youngest of them was probably at least twice as old as Akane, and the feeling that something funny, and probably dirty, had just been said that had gone completely over her head, she felt horribly awkward. Akane wanted to slink back out and return to her room.

Before she could take more than a step back, Mariko looked up, wiped a tear out of her eye, and gestured Akane over. "Our visitor is finally up," she announced to her friends.

"Excellent!" Sachi exclaimed. "I've been wanting to meet you while you were awake. After taking a punch from you and sensing your aura, I've been insanely curious."

"A punch?" Akane asked with bewilderment as she gingerly took a seat.

"Don't you remember giving me a love-tap?" inquired Sachi mournfully as she turned fully to face Akane, revealing a fat lip faintly shadowed by purple bruises. "I'd decided to tell the other girls that I got it from kissing someone a little bit too enthusiastically," she slyly explained, "but I'd hoped that at least you would cherish the truth of our interlude as much as I did." Then she batted her eyes.

"Um," Akane replied, a little wide-eyed as she frantically tried to come up with an appropriate response. "I'm sorry and… sorry?"

"Oh, leave the poor girl alone," pixie-cut scolded with a snort. "She's been delirious, raving about blood and talking socks of all things."

_Talking socks?_ Akane mouthed in disbelief and ever-mounting embarrassment.

"Not to mention crystalline gates, cats, and cords," she added. "That punch was an accident, and you should have been able to avoid it. It's your own fault for getting lazy in your training. Don't take your pique out on our guest by making her uncomfortable. She just rose from her sickbed."

Taking her scolding gracefully, Sachi relaxed into her seat and sent Akane a friendly grin. "Oh, I do know it. I was just teasing, as is my wont." Then she frowned slightly and continued, "but the cats and cords might not have been all delirium. Her aura did something strange when she was muttering that bit…." Her voice trailed off musingly.

An image of Ranma, Ranko, and a black, feline shadow crowding around her, penning her in with desperate eyes, frantic hands, and sharp teeth skidded across the surface of Akane's mind. Akane strained to recall more. She remembered that their need had beat at her like a heartbeat, sinking into her veins and pulling forth things she'd tried to bury and deny, trapping her… but not entirely against her will. _Hadn't that been a dream? Or had it been a buried memory? If it was real… what does that mean?_

"Enough of that," Mariko said, breaking Akane from her spiraling thoughts. "How are you feeling? We decided to treat you here since Sachi used to be a doctor. She didn't think we should make you endure hours of bumpy roads to reach the hospital in town. At least, not in your condition, what with the chance of your cut opening even more."

"Well," interjected pixie-cut, "that, and the fear that you'd wake up possessed by a demon and try to kill everyone in the hospital." She shrugged apologetically. "Sachi also said that your aura was off."

"Off how?" Akane demanded loudly, her voice climbing several octaves.

"I'm not exactly sure," Sachi said soothingly as she shot an annoyed look at her friend, "but now that you're awake I can do a reading and let you know. Me and Aoi," (the name of pixie-cut?), "didn't get taken since we were away on business. But the other ladies, particularly Mariko, have told us what happened. I'm a little concerned."

While she'd been speaking, Mariko had disappeared into a side room and returned with a basket full of medical supplies. Gesturing everyone to come and sit at the table closer to the windows, "where the light is better," Mariko nudged Akane down onto the bench. "They probably wouldn't have taken you anyways," she said to Sachi, "since your grey was showing."

"Only a few inches!" Sachi protested, stroking her blond locks protectively.

"And you were looking your real age instead of the one you tell everyone," Mariko continued. "Their words indicated that they wanted younger women, so I'm sure you would have been fine, even if you had been here."

Finished mocking her friend, she ignored her outraged huffing and turned to Akane, who'd relaxed during their banter. "I told 'em what you said about that evil necklace and the strange cat-man you met in the hallway." Akane held up her shirt without prompting as Mariko began unwrapping her old bandage. "We don't have anything in our records about an evil necklace that entices people to put it on (though evil necklaces aren't as uncommon as I'd expected), but there were two vague mentions about cat-like warriors."

Akane winced a little as the bandage lifted off of her wound. It didn't stick as badly as she'd feared, but the large areas of crusted blood speckled with yellow and green pus on the fabric made her queasy. She'd never had a wound this severe before. However, these tough women with their lithe muscles and calloused hands hiding beneath their silly banter were ones that she wanted to impress. Biting her cheek, Akane swallowed and concentrated on remaining stoic.

Moving next to Mariko, Sachi picked up a bottle of foul smelling liquid and some gauze, and began wiping off the slice. "Most of the infection's receded, thank the Kami," she muttered. Sucking in a breath, Akane endured the pain and tried not to cry out or flinch away from the seemingly merciless fingers probing and cleaning her wound.

Sitting back, Mariko took up her story. "The records are very old and rather vague, but they do agree on one thing," she continued. "If you run into a fighter who acts like a cat or possess cat-like features, not just those who mimic feline fighting styles, such individuals are not to be challenged. We're told to avoid them at any cost. Their very ki has been warped, altered in such a way as to make them both extremely dangerous and almost certainly insane. The two instances mentioned in our records described the fighters as possessing feline features: slit-pupil eyes, tufted ears, even retractable claws and, in on instance, a furred tail. Both histories confirmed that the warriors were known as mediocre fighters for most of their lives until, discontent with their status, they sacrificed something, we don't know what, to an evil demon. Allowing themselves to be possessed, they became unbeatable warriors. None of our fighters, even those who had mastered our most advanced geometric forms, were able to beat them. In fact, several women died. That's when the avoidance order came down."

As Mariko paused for breath, Sachi slathered something sticky onto Akane's wound. It smelled faintly of honey, sage, and cheese (of all things). Then Sachi wound a clean bandage around Akane's waist.

Although grateful that the fussing with her side was over, Akane also felt faintly regretful that she'd no longer have anything to distract herself from the bad news. It didn't sound like Mariko was about to say that these cat-men had a house up the hillside and were really just misunderstood cosplayers who could be bought off with a mint-condition action figure. And that the necklace had no permanent effects at all as long as you spun around three times and left a seedcake for the local kami. Or did the hokey-pokey naked in a clearing during a new moon.

A bitter smile touched Akane's lips. "So what does this mean for my situation? Is there something I should do, or can I just return home and forget?"

Sachi took over the narrative. "We don't know. While you were ill, your aura was muddied by the infection and something else, perhaps a spiritual defense or reaction of some kind. I'm not sure, since I've never seen anything like it before. Now that you're awake and on the mend, I'd like to examine your aura and see if there is any taint of cat demon, since it seems like that's what we're facing."

Aoi suddenly raised her hand like a schoolgirl. "Um, I hate to bring this up, but what about her red-headed friend, the one who was stalking around acting like a cat? Could she be possessed too? Do we need to worry that she'll go crazy and attack everyone? I haven't seen her in hours and I'm a little worried."

"No! Ranma would never do that!" Akane hotly defended. "He's cursed by a Chinese spring, so he turns into a girl when hit with cold water, but he'd never harm an innocent."

Aoi and Sachi, both unaware of this sex-changing tidbit, exclaimed in surprise. Sachi even went so far as to yelp, "She's a man?" When Mariko didn't seem to react, already aware of this information, Aoi sent her a betrayed scowl.

Akane bulldozed over their responses and just kept on going. "But he doesn't have any physical cat traits like you describe those demon possessed warriors as having. His father traumatized him with feral cats when he was a kid, so he just thinks he's a cat when he runs into other cats. It's a mental coping mechanism thingy. It's not his fault!"

Enraged by their accusations, Akane's voice became even louder, and she found herself standing. "He doesn't have a cruel bone in his body. Sometimes he acts like a jerk, but even when mentally a cat, Ranma would never just indiscriminately attack someone. He's not a demon! Ranma's the most honorable man I've ever known!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down," Mariko ordered Akane.

Then she turned to her friends. "I've met the guy, and Ranma doesn't seem to have any of the physical traits mentioned in the histories. In fact, she woke up last night, turned herself back into a man with the use of a little hot water, and walked herself, I mean _him_self, down to the men's shrine with little to no argument. I talked to them this morning on the phone and he hasn't been a problem at all. In fact," she snorted, "they're having a blast with him there. I think he's just what Akane said, a little messed up in the head, but no serious threat to us." She sat down calmly and turned back to Akane to finish her thought, "and I don't think he's a demon."

Aoi let her breath out in a loud sigh. "Have you actually ever met anyone possessed by a demon?"

A half-smile danced across Mariko's lips. "No, but then again, neither have either of you."

"I think I did once, maybe," Sachi whispered faintly, and then shook herself sharply. "But I've read a good bit about it, especially after I started specializing in reading auras and disorders affecting the spirit. However," and she gave a half-bow to Mariko, "I'll accept your diagnosis on this one. I trust your judgments on people. You're right that he doesn't match the descriptions in the histories."

"Also," Sachi frowned, "when I was in Akane's sickroom before, Ranma didn't seem to like me very much. I think she even snickered when Akane punched me, even though she was thinking like a cat at the time. The bits of Ranma's aura I sensed did seem unusual, but," she paused for a second, huffed, and then continued, "I was distracted. The patterns of energy did correspond well to someone suffering a Chinese curse, though. I didn't even think of it much beyond her being weird, since Akane's illness and strange aura seemed more urgent. And then there was that punch in the face…. However, I did get the feeling that even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to get Ranma to sit still long enough, or to let down her barriers enough, for me to do a deep reading. I did try to read her at one point, and she gave me such an evil look that, well, it might not be a good idea. At least, not without having to force her and potentially cause her mental pain, which I refuse to do."

"Very well," Aoi conceded. "I've got work to do anyways, so I'd better get going. I'll leave things in your capable hands." Turning, she said, "Nice to meet you, Akane. I hope you feel better, and that _you_ aren't demon-possessed." After that disconcerting farewell, she strode out of the room.

Sachi then addressed Akane. "Why don't you get some food and then meet me in my meditation room. I'd like to hear the story from your own lips, and then read your aura and try to determine if what I sensed before was just a fluke, or if it's something we need to worry about. I'll leave your Ranma be for now," she paused, and then pursed her lips in thought. "Didn't you say that he's a young man about your age? Is he very attractive, by chance?"

"What!" Akane exclaimed at her brazen question.

Mariko ignored them both. "I'll bring her by later," she confirmed.

Smirking, Sachi twiddled her fingers at them and sauntered out of the room with a saucy swing to her hips.

Right after breakfast, Akane geared herself up for going to see Sachi. Standing up, she took one step and let out a huge yawn. Mariko smiled, shook her head, and took Akane back to her room to take another nap.

It was only after she had woken up, eaten a small snack, and drank her entire mug of medicine plus a few extra pills that Akane finally went to see Sachi. Mariko left her at the door of the meditation room. It was a lovely space, with a few scrolls decorated with calligraphy and ink-drawn mountains hanging on the walls, and shoji screens saturated with afternoon sunlight cracked half-open. Despite her trepidation, Akane felt the knots in her shoulders relax in the peaceful atmosphere.

Gesturing her inside, Sachi performed the tea ceremony and made them both a cup. Then she asked Akane to repeat her story. Akane explained about the kidnapping, the pearls, the cats on the river, her escape from and return to the compound, reinjuring herself on the rat statue, and her strange interaction with the man who looked like he'd been clumsily melded with a cat.

By the end of her story, Akane felt much more comfortable with Sachi. The woman hadn't teased or mocked her at all during her story. Instead, she'd been a sympathetic listener, drawing out feelings and impressions from Akane that she'd forgotten. Akane could tell not only that she was a professional healer, but also that she cared. By the end, Akane felt like she could tell Sachi anything. Akane thought that this might be what having a slightly wild but undoubtedly wise Aunt would feel like.

It was with this feeling of trust that Akane closed her eyes and sent herself into a state of meditation.

"At first I'm just going to observe the outer shell of your ki," Sachi explained in a low and soothing voice. "Then I'm going to put my fingers over some of your chakra points to clarify my readings of your aura. I'll warn you before I do this. It won't hurt, but you might feel some odd sensations. If anything makes you uncomfortable, let me know and I'll stop."

Akane peacefully drifted for a few minutes. Then Sachi said, "I'm going to touch you now." Starting at the base of her spine, Sachi touched each of Akane's seven chakra points in order. Something inside Akane recoiled slightly at her touch. It urged Akane to move away. Firmly squashing the impulse, Akane took a deep breath and forced positive energy down her spine and into the floor.

"Huh," said Sachi. "Can you do that again?" Taking another slow and steady breath, Akane cycled the energy up to her crown, back down her body, and into the floor. "Interesting," Sachi whispered to herself.

"Now, I'm going to mention a series of words," Sachi instructed, "and I want you to just let your mind go to whatever associations it wants to. Ready?" Then Sachi placed her hands loosely on the sixth and seventh chakras on Akane's head, which encompassed both understanding and intuition. She started out with several seemingly arbitrary words, "dog, milk, box." Random thoughts popped into her head with each, but nothing important. Then Sachi moved on to words that either sparked nothing, like the "talking socks," Aoi had mentioned, or brought on vague and disturbing images of the dreams that had tormented her illness, "frog, rat, bloody hair, hakama."

Sachi adjusted the position of her fingers. "They were just dreams. They have no power over you. Let them fade," she murmured. Sighing, Akane obeyed, pushing the dreams to the periphery, until they became mere wraiths.

"You mentioned some other words during your delirium. Let your mind go where it will with each of them." Then Sachi said the new words, "crystal gate, looping back, panther, mother, collar." Images flashed across Akane's mind like a strobe light: a courtyard, shadows, a rainbow handle, tumbling down a hill, and three figures holding her down while they did… something. She couldn't quite remember.

"That's very interesting," Sachi purred. "Something's there. Go back to those images and try to hold onto them."

Akane needed no urging as she struggled to fill in the dark gaps between scenes. When had this been? What had happened? It felt like a word hovering on the tip of her tongue, almost but not quite recalled. Her inability to force the images frustrated Akane immensely. Vaguely she noticed Sachi moving her fingers to a different chakra point.

"This is a memory, not a dream, I think," Sachi said softly. "It seems to be wrapped around both your fourth and fifth chakras, heart and throat. Something's strange there. Let's dig a bit deeper."

Suddenly, Akane felt very uncomfortable. Her throat became tight and her breath became labored. Then she felt a strange, hot flush radiate across her body.

"Ouch!" yelped Sachi, jerking her fingers away from Akane. Startled, Akane opened her eyes to observe Sachi shaking her wrist as if her hand hurt. "I think something just bit me," she said in shocked disbelief. "The energy can't be feline…."

Akane felt uneasiness flit through her body. "It felt weird, but I didn't do anything, I swear. How is that even possible?" she asked.

Sachi's lips firmed. "Let's find out." Placing her hands back on Akane, she pressed down firmly on each chakra point as she once again moved from the base of the spine to the crown of Akane's head. She repeated the cycle several times, muttering things like, "strange," and "another one," to herself.

Keeping her breathing steady, Akane refused to allow any further deviations by her body. Several times something seemed to writhe within her mental grip, but she refused to falter. Her spirit would not attack Sachi, and neither would anything associated with her spirit. She forbid it.

Finally, Sachi sat back and sighed. "Akane, there seems to be a gap in the fabric of your spirit. This should be impossible, especially since you're not only alive, but also still sane. Usually only the very recently dead and inmates in insane asylums have gaps like this. Unless you've been gibbering at the walls when my back's been turned?" she suddenly teased in a deadpan delivery.

Akane smiled weakly at her joke. "No, no gibbering. Maybe a shriek or two, but I don't think those count."

Sachi rewarded her efforts with a weak smile of her own and then straightened her back. "Here's what I can tell. You have a gap in your spirit that shouldn't be there. The edges are also enflamed, as if you'd recently suffered a spiritual assault that tried to make it wider. It was hidden until I repeated that second batch of words I overheard in your sleep. There are a mess of what you'd probably call spiritual threads patched all over it, with a particularly strong line connected to your heart chakra, looped several times around your throat chakra, and then leaving your body to fade into the distance somewhere, probably connected to the owner of the energy. This energy is very intermixed with your own. I'd be afraid that pulling it all out might just kill you. I'm also not sure that it all belongs to just one individual."

Clearing her throat, Sachi met Akane's eyes steadily and continued. "There's also something else on the surface of your spirit that's burrowing in, but hasn't managed to intermix yet like the first set of energy. It's most concentrated on your navel and throat chakras right now, and so far it's weak, but there's a cord stretching from it off into the distance too, and it seems pretty strong, though thinner than the first. Depending on the demon, distance can weaken their influence. I'm not sure if it is the first energy or the second that caused the fissure in your soul and the new damage. I'm not even sure if these energies are connected to your recent kidnapping. I've never seen energy patterns like these before. Nothing in the literature mentions a situation like this. I'm assuming one of these is the cat demon you encountered over there, but again, I'm just not sure."

Akane didn't know what to say. It all sounded like bad news poured upon more bad news. "So this means that I am possessed by not just one, but several demons," she repeated in her most even voice. She was almost an adult. She could be rational about this and not freak out. "Can you get rid of them? Exorcise them, I mean, without killing me in the process?"

[To be continued]

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AN: Teaching this class right now is taking up a lot more time than I expected. I shirked off today just so I could get this chapter written, because I really wanted to get it out. Thank you for reading it. Please let me know what you think of it. How do you expect Sachi to respond? What is Ranma up to down with the men? And how will this knowledge change or not change Ranma, Akane, and their relationship in future chapters? Thoughts? Thanks and stay tuned!


	16. Femme Fatales and Dark Dimples

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and its characters do not belong to me.

AN: I'm still alive and intend to finish this story eventually. I promise! Sorry for the long hiatus and thank you so much for those who continued to review and PM me to finish in the last few years like _caia-chan, Mana Sputachu, Livvy22, Broken Quill and Scattered Ink, Gemini011, D-Chan3, Meiyo no Ko, LukeShaehl, DipuC, Andrea, Kou Shun'u,_ and everyone else. You helped keep this story alive. Domo arigato gozaimasu minna-san. Please continue to support me.

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**No more pussyfooting around**: a Ranma ½ fanfic

By Indygodusk

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**Chapter 16: Femme Fatales and Dark Dimples **

_Akane didn't know what to say. It all sounded like bad news poured upon more bad news. "So this means that I am possessed by not just one, but several demons," she repeated in her most even voice. She was almost an adult. She could be rational about this and not freak out. "Can you get rid of them? Exorcise them, I mean, without killing me in the process?"_

Sachi hemmed and hawed over her response, lapsing into metaphysical jargon that lost Akane after only a few words. In the end, though, it all boiled down to, "Right now, I just don't know."

_It wasn't what Akane wanted to hear. _

Seeing the look on Akane's face, Sachi placated, "I've shored up your spiritual defenses and set up something that will thin out those lines of outside spiritual influence. It takes some time to work, but should finish clamping down as much as possible sometime in the next hour. You might feel strange when that finally happens, but don't worry. I'm sorry that I don't have the power to destroy them completely. I can only minimize them."

Her tone became more apologetic as she continued, "There's not much more I can do right now, but a demon would need physical contact to pry those defenses back open. With the ragged state of your spirit, it's actually better the less that people poke at it. I'd advise you not have anyone else mess with your spiritual fabric either. Like a well-used sweater, too much tugging could cause the whole thing start unraveling. If that happens, there might not be enough of a pattern left to knit your spirit back together." Tilting her head to the side, she tapped her fingernail to her teeth a few times before continuing with a disturbing gleam of scientific interest, "which could possibly turn you into a soulless golem. That or messing with it could fundamentally alter your personality and memories forever, though whether you'd skew towards childishness, dementia, or psychopathy is hard to predict. In fact, it might be best if you try not to talk or think or even look at pictures of demons until I get back to you. Avoid demons all together. Just in case."

The older woman, finally noticing the horror on Akane's face, added with a wave of her hand, "But don't worry! Once you're back in Tokyo, you shouldn't notice any problems."

_That's it?_ Shouldn't _notice any problems?_ "So what do I do?" Akane demanded, scared and trying desperately not to show it.

Placing a hand on Akane's knee supportively, Sachi glibly replied, "Live your life and try not to worry too much. Go home, have fun, flirt with cute boys and," she winked at Akane, "be a normal kid."

Akane felt a volcano go off in her head at the flippancy of the advice. Earlier, she'd just wanted to go home and forget everything, but that was before she knew that she'd been possessed by demons. This called for action, not blind hope. Just who did Sachi think Akane was?

"I'm not a _normal kid_!" Akane burst out angrily, rising up on her heels and shaking off Sachi's condescending hand pats. The older woman merely sat back and raised an eyebrow calmly, as if chastising Akane for proving her immaturity by yelling.

Sucking in a deep breath through her nose, Akane exhaled through pursed lips and called upon all of her techniques to manage her anger enough to calm down and make this woman _understand_. But how did she encapsulate the insanity of her life to someone who hadn't seen any of it, to someone who'd barely even met any of the players?

"I know I'm not an adult yet," Akane began unsteadily, "but I'm not a child either. My life hasn't been normal in years. I'm almost 18," her voice rose passionately as she pointed her finger in emphasis, "and in my almost 18 years, I've fought monsters and kami. I've been hurt and I've hurt others, both accidentally and on purpose. I've won challenges, lost battles, been kidnapped, protected others, been drowned, lost loved ones to death, made allies out of enemies, almost gotten married, several times in fact, been possessed by a vengeful spirit doll and now possessed by demons. I've been forced to make hard choices, both good and bad, these last few years." Akane felt like each word was clawing out of her throat as she spoke, deeply buried experiences exposed to the air, ricocheting around the room only to skitter back over her raw nerves and dig down into her flesh like a swarm of insects retreating from the light back into the burrow of her memories.

"I died," she bit out finally, "and I came back. I am not just some _normal_ _kid_." Throat raw and chest heaving, Akane waited for the older woman's response.

Eyes wide and smile wiped clean, Sachi responded. "I did not mean to belittle you or your challenges." The older woman inclined her head apologetically, "Please keep in mind that you're less than half my age. Perhaps I made some assumptions based on that. I don't know all of the trials that your life has held, but I do realize that you aren't a child. I can see your strength, Akane: strength of body, spirit, and heart. I hope that one day you'll have time to share some of your stories with me, good or bad. I'd love to hear them." Finishing, Sachi inclined her head respectfully.

Releasing a trembling sigh, Akane sat back down on her heels. Slightly uncomfortable silence filled the room. "The weather is beautiful today, ne?" she awkwardly remarked.

Sachi quirked an eyebrow but smiled and went along with the change in subject. "Yes, it is. In fact, this is perfect weather for sitting outside pretending to do work so you can fall asleep accidentally instead." Akane snorted as the other woman continued talking. "This meditation room is my favorite at this time of day though, even better than outside when one seeks for calmness. I love the sparkle of dust in the sunbeams, and the serenity and strength emanating from the simple art on the scrolls." Sharing a smile, the two women mutually decided to let now comfortable silence wash through the room as they sat and enjoyed the beauty of the day.

Sometime later Sachi roused, cocked her head to the side, and tossed Akane an inviting smile. "I just want you to remain optimistic," she began. Akane let herself smile back, and Sachi's smile widened into a grin. "And don't throw away the beauty of your youth! You'll regret it when you're my age, no matter what challenges you currently face. Don't worry about something we can't change just yet. For all we know, it might never get worse than it is right now. Distance really does help to attenuate the influence of these things."

Giving Akane a quick once-over with unfocused eyes, Sachi touched her finger lightly to Akane's chest as she continued, "It looks like you've been living with some form of spiritual disruption for a while now without noticing any problems. Just from the few things you listed, the disruption could have come from that vengeful doll possession, your drowning, a spiritual attack during battle, a magical spell, your death and subsequent return, or even something else you've gone through but not mentioned. You've lived a crazy life already, and I don't know enough to say. I'm not even 100% sure that the more recent damage was definitely caused here in Okinawa. However, I do know one thing." Pausing, she laid her hand flat over Akane's chest before continuing, "You'll survive this challenge just like you have all of the rest because you have a strong heart, Akane. I _can_ see that clearly in you."

Sachi's mouth quirked, "Keep doing your best, avoid touching any demons, and stay positive. I am on your side, we all are here. I'll keep researching this and get back to you the minute I know anything, all right?"

Akane nodded. Sachi was right. She needed to keep a good attitude about this until they knew more. You could lose a battle before it had begun with a bad attitude. This was one battle she had no intention of losing. Akane was going to survive.

Focusing back on Akane's face, Sachi dropped her hand and suddenly changed from serious to frivolous. "Don't forget that you are still a young woman, so go home and remember to flirt with cute boys! I know we don't have time for your entire life story, but," she winked teasingly, "I have just one question about your 'almost getting married, several times.'" Her smirk widened at Akane's sudden blush, "you were the femme fatale in those scenarios, weren't you?"

"Whaa-at? No!" Akane exclaimed as Sachi dissolved into laughter, tittering behind her raised hand like an anime villainess.

Tension broken, Akane allowed Sachi to chivvy her to her feet and lead her back to the kitchen with more teasing, including requests for photos and phone numbers of Akane's castoffs so Sachi could "console" them. Handing Akane a peach from the larder, Sachi then sent her out a side door into the garden with instructions to go, "relax in the sun and work on your tan. After all," she trilled, "you need to look less pasty if you want to keep almost getting married, several _more_ times." Rolling her eyes and sticking her tongue out at Sachi's mocking, Akane obeyed. And if the thought of seeing Ranma again with color instead of pallor coloring her cheeks quickened Akane's steps, that was no one's business but her own.

Finding a soft spot of grass outside, Akane sat down and took a bite out of her peach. She licked the delicious juice from her lips and turned her face up into the sun. Warm sunlight lapped against her skin soothingly.

However, she only had a few moments to quietly enjoy herself. Over the course of the next few minutes, a creeping headache gained strength until it became a crippling ice pick attacking her temple. Exhaustion and pain from the wound in her side crested inexorably as well, until she could barely stand the waves of discomfort.

In fact, she didn't remember being this physically drained even when she'd first woken up in the temple. Peach barely eaten, Akane let it drop to her side and lay back in the grass with an arm flung over her eyes. _Did this have something to do with Sachi pinching down those cords of outside spiritual influence?_ She had said that it would feel a bit strange, but this felt awful.

Beyond the physical sensations, Akane also, weirdly enough, felt incredibly… lonely. _Don't be stupid_, she scolded herself halfheartedly. _The pain is just making you feel sorry for yourself._ Breathing carefully though the pain, she fled into the oblivion of sleep.

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Earlier that morning down the mountain at the male temple, Ranma Saotome was finally figuring out the use of geometry. He'd barely slept the night before. Instead, he'd been engrossed with practicing how calculating length, area, and volume translated into new skills. The monks down here had been great about helping him out.

Because of Ranma's years of training, and maybe because he'd managed to stay awake lately in math class, he was quickly picking up the techniques. Some of the things they did consciously he was already doing instinctively, like calculating the angles of his limbs compared to the volume and angles of an opponent's body to maximize damage with each hit. Though to be honest, a lot of this style seemed like too much overthinking to Ranma.

Although a couple of the old fogies could still wipe the floor with him, he was quickly picking things up. Several senior monks who'd beaten him the night before found themselves eating dust before breakfast the next day. Not that he was keeping track or anything. Or that he was boasting about it. _Heh_.

The advanced forms of this style focused on sensing and disrupting ki. Their approach to the spiritual side seemed a lot less intuitive and a lot more formulaic than what Ranma had learned lately from Cologne. Often the complex equations they mentioned went right over his head. He'd never been very school smart, especially since he'd missed so much class while travelling with his Pops. But by concentrating on the application of those equations, like how the monk's bodies and auras behaved as they performed katas, he slowly began to understand.

After a few hours of intensive focus, something finally clicked. Half-understood diagrams from the chalkboard at school suddenly made sense in terms of these martial arts. Things that Ranma had never quite understood about spiritual energy also began slotting into place. His teacher, far from being pleased, simply chose to ramp up his training and expectations.

"Careful," admonished Kazuya-san, the elderly monk assigned to teach Ranma that morning. "You need to push your aura out evenly into a sphere, both grounded underneath the earth and soaring above yourself into the sky. I said evenly!" he snapped, poking at Ranma's side with a sharp tendril of ki. "No bulges, no skimming the ground, and no ovals. Those won't work! They're like eggs, one good hit and your aura will crack open. " Grimacing at the sharp poke, Ranma concentrated on tucking in the edges of his aura to be more uniform.

"When I was a novitiate, they used to throw rotten eggs at us every time our edges bulged," Kazuya-san reminisced. "The smell got so bad, one of my brothers passed out and broke his nose falling onto his face. We started to envy him, because he couldn't smell anything for a week," he cackled as he continued to circle Ranma. An unexpected second poke made Ranma twitch unwittingly and his aura again wavered, but on the third attack, the sphere of Ranma's aura finally deflected it.

Kazuya-san hummed in satisfaction. "Alright boy, now just do what we showed you this morning, use the edges to calculate the radius and then your current spiritual volume." Carefully going through the mental steps he'd learned, Ranma tried to figure out how to internalize the new sensation of self/not-self provided by objects inside and outside of his aura. He also struggled to remember if the equation for calculating the volume of a sphere from a radius was V = ⁴⁄₃πr³ or not.

As the old monk began pelting Ranma with pebbles, punches, and weak ki attacks, Ranma realized that he could sense things sneaking up from behind better than ever before. After almost an hour, he figured out how to push out several ki attacks to areas around his body without concentrating the energy first in his hands. They were weak though. He was still hit and miss for the calculations required to get the angles right. There must be tables of angles and cubed numbers he could memorize so he wouldn't have to calculate things fresh each time.

But he'd have to work on mastering that later, once he'd returned to Nerima with Akane. Maybe he'd also have to try harder to stay in math class instead of holding buckets in the hallway, though he'd had fewer problems with that this last year. He didn't have Akane in as many of his classes. At least he still got to see her after school when they returned home.

Of course, all that would change once he graduated. If they weren't married by then, his mother would insist they move back in with her. So far, Pops had convinced her to let them keep on living at the Tendo dojo by using the excuse that the school was too far away for Ranma to commute.

He loved his mother, but he didn't really know her. She didn't really need him. For years she'd done just fine without the men of the family. If he could live with her without abandoning Akane, he'd do it. But Akane came first. It might sound cold, but at the root of it, Ranma had lived away from his mother for so long that he didn't really need her either.

But Akane was different. Akane was vulnerable. She gave her trust and heart too freely, allowed the opinions of others to hurt her, and never put her own safety or happiness first. Akane needed him. Maybe Akane thought she didn't need him, but Ranma knew better. In fact, he was betting his sanity on that fact.

"Pay attention!" Kazuya-san snapped, right before blasting Ranma off of his feet.

_Stop obsessing over Akane and focus_, Ranma scolded his psyche. Shaking off thoughts of Akane for the hundredth time since he'd left her alone the night before, Ranma apologized and reset his spherical aura. After a few more passes, the old monk finally allowed him to take a break.

"You are picking this up quicker than I expected from someone who looks like you do," the old monk half-praised.

"What's that suppose ta mean, ya old bag?" Ranma fired back.

A sharp spike of ki poked Ranma's side. "I told you to always use honorifics with me, you ungrateful whelp! Call me Kazuya-_san_ or I'll poke you worse." He sniffed haughtily, "Also, it means you aren't quite as dumb as you look. Of course, that isn't saying much as you do have quite doltish features, so I set my expectations really low." While Ranma sputtered at the insult, Kazuya-san continued, "Not everyone can be as intelligent and good looking as me though, so don't take it too hard." He then smoothed his hand lovingly over wrinkled skin which possessed more age spots than a speckled egg.

Ranma snorted and rolled his eyes hard enough to hurt. "You're blind as a bat is what you are if you can't see that I'm both extremely handsome _and_ intelligent looking. Also, everyone is more good looking than an old goat like you," he mocked.

Kazuya-san responded with the promised painful poke of ki. "Ow!" Ranma yelped. "Would you stop it already? We ain't sparrin' no more."

Snorting in reply, the old monk said, "What are you, some western fencer always expecting people to announce, 'En garde' before attacking? I thought you said you were used to unexpected attacks and _anything goes_. Grow a pair, sonny."

Settling down onto his heels, Kazuya-san ignored both Ranma's, "Yes, Sensei," and his half-hidden rude gesture serenely. Clearing his throat, he resumed lecturing. "Here at the temple, we concentrate on uniting into precise shapes the concrete nature of our bodies with the amorphous nature of our spirits. The more precisely you can control the position of each and reflect their natures off of each other, the more powerful and quickly you can execute an attack."

Kazuya began gesturing expansively. "If you can convince your body that it is amorphous, your foes will find it easier to capture a single mote of dust than to touch your body. If you can convince your spirit it is concrete, your foes will find their flesh shredded as easily as you now shred paper. It is a matter of precise calculations, self-awareness, and strength of will. If you can unflinchingly confront every ignoble corner of your own spirit, if you can identify your own body when shown only the shape of a mole in the middle of your back… you might have a chance to master martial arts geometry."

The old man lifted up his robe and pointed to a bony ankle. "I cut myself this morning when I kicked a stick out of my path. Watch my aura carefully, and learn what you can of it."

As Ranma focused intently, he saw the monk's aura swarm down to the injured ankle. The energy formed a barely sensed geodesic cuff made of pentagons and hexagons. Then suddenly, the shapes in the cuff turned into equilateral triangles and the image of the cuff solidified. Ranma watched in amazement as the shift in energy caused the raw edges of the monk's flesh to smooth together. Soon only a faint scar remained. A few seconds later, the cuff dissipated until it could no longer be seen, and the energy redistributing around the monk's body.

"The head of our order can do this with large wounds without leaving any scars," he shared.

"How does that work?" Ranma asked, leaning forward eagerly. "How do I do it? Can you teach me now?"

Kazuya-san sent him a quelling look, "It takes decades of careful study to master this technique. You see, when you have achieved geometrical unity, your body becomes used to being at congruent angles with your spirit." Gesturing at his ankle he explained, "When the flesh is wounded but the spirit uninjured, your spirit can convince your body that both are unwounded and whole, restoring congruence."

It probably would take more than a few hours for Ranma to pick up something that complicated, along with a glossary of geometry terms, but he seriously doubted he would need decades. He might not be good at book smarts, but he was great at training and picking up new techniques. Ranma could master this if he had the time.

It just depended on how much time was left before Akane felt well enough to return to Nerima. They couldn't stay too long. Nevertheless, Ranma was determined to master as much as he could before leaving. Besides which, focusing on the really hard stuff helped to keep his mind off of Akane, sick and alone up at the women's temple.

As the Sensei droned on about geometric theory, Ranma found his eyes drooping as a vision of Akane sitting up in her sickbed yesterday drifted into his thoughts. Shaking his head sharply, Ranma stifled a yawn and tried to get his mind off of his fiancée and back on his training.

Ever since he'd woken up yesterday, he'd felt more sluggish than usual and his side ached persistently even though there was nothing physically wrong with it. If any of the monks asked, he'd blame it on lingering effects of the kidnapping a few days ago, or on his lack of sleep the night before. That's what he'd say, but it wasn't the truth.

As soon as he'd left Akane at the women's temple the night before, he'd noticed that the spiritual cord binding them together was stronger than ever. He could sense not only Akane's location, but even vaguely feel the ache of her lingering sickness. Remembering how he'd stolen energy from her in the dojo, Ranma did his best to do the reverse. Thinking about the spiritual cord stretching between them, he tried to pump his strength in her direction, like refilling a tank of gas.

_Did the twinge in his side come from Akane? Perhaps she'd strained a muscle coughing or been bruised when kidnapped? _He wished he knew, but at the same time he was too ashamed to ask. That she got hurt at all was his fault. The trickle down pain was only what he deserved as he pushed his energy into her body. At least in this small way, he could be useful to Akane. Even if she didn't consciously know it.

Ranma was Akane's fiancé. He would give her anything. If she'd take it, he would give her everything. Akane could claim his strength and body as rightfully hers, and he wished that she would. Because everything he had was hers and if she took it, didn't that mean she had to know that she had the right to take it? Wouldn't using him mean that she acknowledged that Ranma belonged to her, and by default that she belonged to Ranma?

Sighing roughly, Ranma forced himself to face reality. She might never claim him, never want him the way he wanted her. He might have destroyed that chance already through his own thoughtlessness, cutting down the bud of her affections early in their acquaintance before he had even realized how precious and necessary the flowering of those affections would be. It might already be too late. It might be years too late. But he still wasn't ready to give up on the dream of Akane. Those few things he loved, he loved passionately. He might have retreated to regroup, but the fight wasn't over yet.

Perhaps he needed to storm up the mountainside and give her words of truth, however personally embarrassing. Would flaying open his feelings on the altar of her capricious understanding gain him her heart? She could be so thoughtlessly cruel when unsure, and anger brought out the worst in her, however breathtaking it made the sparkle in her eyes or the flush in her cheeks. Perhaps an honest declaration would work.

Or perhaps not. Maybe the opposite was called for. He would not do anything dishonorable, but there were many shades of gray. Ranma could cheat and lie if it would win him Akane. In the past, he had even cheated and lied to Akane. Sometimes it served to protect Akane, and other times it helped Ranma protect himself from things like her toxic cooking, thoughtless words, and angry mallet. Perhaps the right clever lie would win this battle for her heart.

After all, some level of deception during competition was normal for him. He almost never showed everything he was capable of in a fight, as being underestimated kept things interesting and gave him an advantage. The last time he had revealed everything he was capable of, a kami had died. The phoenix kami's rebirth was merely luck.

Just because deception had not won him Akane yet, did not mean it never would. Maybe his determination to come clean down here in Okinawa, away from everyone else, had been what caused this massive blunder and her sickness in the first place. The spirits knew he didn't have much practice with honesty. Perhaps this was a sign for him to try something else. Ranma would have to think on it.

Whatever happened in the future, he would always take care of Akane. It was his right. Because it didn't matter if he was a man or a woman or a cat, every particle of his being had accepted this truism – Akane was _his_!

Wrenching his thoughts away from Akane again, Ranma forced himself to listen to the monk explaining more ki techniques. He wanted to learn this. If only Akane would quit invading his thoughts. "Before you can manipulate your ki to attack or heal, you must expand your powers of spiritual observation. Make a spherical aura," he commanded. When Ranma complied, he continued, "Now, bounce just a squirt of ki off the edge of your aura. This will allow you to sense not only an opponent, but the position and condition of your own body and spirit."

As Ranma began experimenting, he discovered that if he used too much power, he simply blasted through his own spiritual circumference. If he used too little, the power would dissipate around his body. When he finally managed it for the first time, he only had a moment to triumph.

Then out of nowhere a feeling of extreme peril swamped him. Instinctively, something deep within himself responded with a ki attack towards the threat that… never materialized. Startled by his own actions, Ranma lost focus.

It took him several minutes to shake off those strange feelings enough to correctly calculate the angles needed for the technique. Finally, he managed to get it. This time, there were no strange feelings. He cautiously began to examine himself. It was a view of himself that he'd never seen before. This worked sort of like sonar and sort of like discerning all of the angles in a complex shape or diagram with only a few clues. The calculations were giving him flashbacks of pop-quizzes in math.

Once he got it, the monk began throwing attacks and splashes of water at Ranma to test his control. When he managed the calculations right, he could align his spiritual energies and physical senses to better detect opponents in his blind spots. He could also produce more powerful attacks with less effort. But what actually unsettled Ranma was how, when done right, he could see for the first time his own mental shields and the variegated patchwork of foreign magics swirling inside his spirit.

The Jusenkyo curse seemed like water contained in a bucket, sloshing around to drench every corner of his spirit, sinking down beneath the surface in hiding while he was in his male form, and splashing out to overwhelm him with monsoon waves whenever he touched cold water and became female. Less showy was the curse on his hair to grow, constrained by the dragon's whisker. It had gotten weaker over the years, and indeed seemed pale and sluggish compared to the energetic curse of Jusenkyo. Seeing it, Ranma had hopes that it would soon fade completely. Of course, after a second glance he realized that it was being cannibalized by something else lurking in his spirit. But whether for good or ill, Ranma couldn't tell. Wisps of dark energy siphoned off deeper into his ki where he couldn't see. His mastery of this technique was not good enough yet.

Moving on, he noted other bits here and there clinging to his spirit, remnants of far travels, strange meetings, and crazy battles. And then there were the things he could blame on his crazy Pops, like that strange dark dimple in his aura. To examine it, he had to look at it sideways instead of directly. He tried to tell himself that it wouldn't hold still in his mind otherwise, but truthfully, he was afraid to see it too clearly. It scared him.

Even barely seen, he knew it. That mysterious darkness belonged to the trauma and power of the Cat Fist. He could almost see something primitive, ravenous, and still wounded lurking beneath the thin skin of that dimple, ready to come clawing out in the presence of a cat, bloated with secret memories hoarded away from his conscious mind. Maybe even just the weight of his fearful focus would be enough pressure to split open the fragile skin caging that animalistic rage. Quivering, Ranma's concentration abruptly broke.

Breathing heavily, he pretended to be thirsty as an excuse to ask for a break. Kazuya-san had something knowing in his eyes during the prevarication, but he still released Ranma to his own devices until after lunch. "Remember, to master one's inner self leads to external mastery," he said before walking off.

Picking up a bucket of ice cold well water, Ranma closed his eyes and poured it over his head. Ranma hated cats. He hated being afraid. And he hated what he'd just started to suspect, for as he'd turned (_ran_) away from observing that small dark pit in his aura, out of the corner of his eye he'd seen something flicker. Coming out of the edge of that dark dimple, he could have sworn he saw a spiritual cord stretching up the mountainside towards the women's temple… towards Akane.

Gasping at the chill, Ranko shook her head wildly, flinging off a spray of water droplets. _Could his newfound sense of Akane really come from something so despised as the Cat Fist?_ As she dropped the bucket back down next to the well, Ranko suddenly realized that she suddenly didn't feel tired anymore. _Magical well water,_ she wondered, _or becoming female_?

Then Ranko noticed that all of her aches and pains had disappeared too, like the persistent one in her side. Of course, tripping on the heels of that thought, she remembered that the ache in her side hadn't been her own. It had been Akane's. Not only had the ache disappeared, but so had Ranko's sense of her position up the mountain.

Grasping a nearby teapot holding the dregs of the hot water used during their sparring match, she found it just lukewarm enough for her purposes. A quick splash turned Ranma back into a man. However, it didn't bring back his sense of Akane.

Fear swelled.

Ranma's awareness of Akane had flickered in the past, but he now realized that even at its weakest he'd maintained a faint sense of her presence. That faint pulse was gone. Besides which, ever since he'd woken up yesterday the connection to her had been completely open, consistent, and stronger than ever. He supposed that it could just be a return to the former unpredictable status quo.

_But what if it wasn't? What if something had happened to Akane? She had been sick when he'd left her yesterday. What if she'd taken a turn for the worse? What if she'd died? _Ignoring the crack of the teapot as he flung it carelessly aside, Ranma turned and raced up the mountain towards the women's temple.

[To be continued]


	17. The reverse side of the mirror

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and its characters do not belong to me.

AN: Thank you to everyone who returned to this fic with me like gort420, VlightPhase, Angela Jewell, caia-chan, roonilwazlib93, tuatara, Richard Ryley, Lacrimosa Tomboy, James Birdsong, jdcocoagirl, and my fastest reviewer Compucles! I'm glad you are reading and enjoying!

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**No more pussyfooting around**: a Ranma ½ fanfic

By Indygodusk

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**Chapter 17: The reverse side of the mirror**

_Fear swelled._

_Ranma's awareness of Akane had flickered in the past, but he now realized that even at its weakest he'd maintained a faint sense of her presence. That faint pulse was gone. Besides which, ever since he'd woken up yesterday the connection to her had been completely open, consistent, and stronger than ever. He supposed that it could just be a return to the former unpredictable status quo._

_But what if it wasn't? What if something had happened to Akane? She had been sick when he'd left her yesterday. What if she'd taken a turn for the worse? What if she'd died? Ignoring the crack of the teapot as he flung it carelessly aside, Ranma turned and raced up the mountain towards the women's temple._

When Ranma finally neared the temple, he saw a group of female monks clustered around the front gate. Slowing to a jog, he noticed three men in the center of the group. They were being pummeled to within an inch of their lives. The angry auras the women were projecting sent a shiver of fear down his spine as he flashed back to similar group beatings from his "loving fiancées."

From what he could hear from their yelling, the men had tried to enter the female temple despite the prohibition. "It was an accident! We got lost!" shouted one of the men. "Stop hitting me!" wailed another as he slapped ineffectively at the arms and legs surrounding his cowering form.

Whether they'd made a true mistake or were lying to escape the beating, Ranma didn't know. The women didn't seem to care. The shouted excuses didn't slow down their punishment at all.

Carefully bypassing the mob at the front gate, Ranma ran stealthily towards the window of the room Akane had been staying in. Leaping up to crouch on the sill, he sent a questing gaze around the room. His inspection revealed a tidy futon, barely any furniture, and no Akane. Only her worn pack leaning in the corner confirmed that she'd really been here.

He was probably overreacting. Most likely Akane was just fine. Once he found her, she'd probably yell at him for worrying and thinking that she was weak. He just had to find her so he could get yelled at. Then his heart could calm down and stop trying to leap out of his chest through his throat.

Asking a female monk for directions might be quickest way to find Akane, but it would probably backfire. Their restrictions against the opposite sex were very strict. Even the woman helping Akane, Mariko, had quickly ejected him from the temple when he'd become male again.

No, asking wouldn't do any good. They would just kick him out without listening to his fears, especially considering they were already riled up by the men at the front gate. He thought about trying to con or sweet talk one of the younger ones into helping him, but none of the women were alone. The disturbance up front had them all traveling in packs. It was better to just avoid them all, he decided.

Admittedly, he didn't want to explain to anyone why he was looking for Akane. The spiritual cord that linked him to Akane was private. It was no one else's business. It especially wasn't anyone's business whether a cord between them was appropriate or not. Ranma needed that cord back, because if he had it, he wouldn't have to run around trying to find her. He'd _know_ where Akane was and that she was fine.

Several minutes of searching later, Ranma gave up on not asking for help. He was willing to humble himself. Within reason. Of course, this would work better if he was a girl.

Looking into rooms and open windows with impatience, Ranma tried to find some cold water to activate his curse. If he was female they couldn't kick him out for just asking a question. But cold water proved to be just as elusive as answers about Akane. Too many female monks lingered around the well in the courtyard and the kitchen pots for him to get close undetected.

Normally Ranma couldn't avoid cold water to save his life. When he really needed it though, it was nowhere to be found. Right now he couldn't even find a puddle or forgotten cup of tea.

After several more minutes spent frantically searching and dodging female monks, Ranma felt his grasp on rational thought slipping. Yet in all of his eavesdropping, no one had mentioned being worried about Akane. They'd notice if something was wrong, wouldn't they? Whatever the case, just running around searching wasn't working. He needed a new strategy, or he was going to grab the next pack of women and demand they take him to Akane _and damned the consequences_.

Ranma slipped through a half-open shoji into a softly lit room. It had a few scrolls decorated with calligraphy and ink-drawn mountains hanging on the walls. Something about the room felt strangely familiar, as if he could feel a weak echo of one of his ki attacks. But he'd never been in here before, much less fought anyone here. He'd swear to that… unless he'd been a cat at the time.

A teapot, whisk, and two clay cups sat forgotten on a tray against the far wall. Catching his breath hopefully, he dismissed his musings and snatched up the teapot. He tipped it over his head but only a single drop splashed out onto his forehead. The skin tingled, but his body remained male. He tried both teacups next, but neither of them contained more than a damp film. It took more restraint than he expected to keep from flinging the entire tray through the shoji and into the nearest pack of female monks.

Slumping down into a corner, Ranma fisted his hands in his hair, clutched his head, and growled. He needed to calm down for a second and try to sense Akane again. Blowing air out between pursed lips, he searched his ki. However the spiritual tie between them still remained elusive. _Had it disappeared altogether or simply gone into hiding?_

Suddenly, a thought padded into the forefront of his mind. Earlier he'd suspected that the ephemeral cord leading towards Akane was rooted behind the dark dimple in his aura shielding the Cat Fist. If the cord was still attached there, even if diminished, maybe he could find it and follow it back to Akane.

For a second he wavered in indecision and fear. There had to be another way. Maybe the female monks would answer his questions if he just spoke quickly enough. Confronting the source of the Cat Fist couldn't be the only way.

Disputing his hopes, he distantly heard a man scream, "I'm sorry!" amid a chorus of female hooting and cheering.

Firming his lips, Ranma settled himself into a lotus position on the floor and placed his hands on his thighs palm up. To settle his mind he looked at the lines of calligraphy painted on the scroll across the room, 裏には裏がある. 'The reverse side also has a reverse side.' Huh. Ranma forced his anxious breathing to slow. Quickly he dropped into a meditative state.

_I can, no, I _WILL_ do this._

Ranma needed to find Akane. He had to make sure that she was alright, because if she wasn't… well, she had to be alright. Nothing else was acceptable. Ranma wouldn't allow Akane to die, not again. He wanted to find her, so she would be found.

Failure was inconceivable.

Using the new geometric technique he'd learned just that morning, he slid sideways inside his spirit and formed a sphere with his aura. Answers to the complex calculations leapt to the forefront of his mind almost before he formulated the equations, as if his subconscious was subtly guiding him. He didn't care how he found the way though, just that it worked.

Releasing his energy, he sensed it bouncing off his aura into a series of angled reflections that almost immediately illuminated the dark dimple he sought with the precision of a spotlight. It was a part of him, a part that let him keep Akane leashed to his soul, and for that alone he would not only face this fear, but embrace this inner darkness. Not giving the terrified gibbering in the back of his mind time to gain momentum, Ranma rammed his will against that dark dimple in his aura until it split open like overripe fruit.

Falling into it, he found himself buffeted on all sides until vertigo consumed him. When he regained his senses, he could no longer separate spiritual perception from physical sensation. For all intents and purposes, he had trapped himself inside his own mind.

Fear and bravado battled in his mind, but there didn't seem to be a clear way back to the calm room with scrolls and shoji where he'd started this. Swallowing his fear, Ranma latched onto bravado. Then he strode forward into the dark.

At first, it felt like he had landed in a muddy cave. Moving forward blindly across the squishy ground, he found the fluid getting deeper and deeper, until it seemed he was pushing his way through a chest-high river of warm pus. Breathing shallowly through his nose, Ranma tried not to gag. He only lasted until a rough arm movement splashed the fluid up onto his cheek. That was the last straw.

Leaning to the side, he vomited. It only added to the foul stench and disgusting feeling. Barely keeping his footing through the painful heaves, he forced his way deeper into the darkness. Finally, the foul liquid receded and he found himself of dry ground. Collapsing onto all fours, he let himself rest for a minute before moving on.

After an indeterminable period of walking, his clothing dried. More walking, and then he began to feel phantom touches. No matter how quickly he turned to grasp at them, he never caught anything. Nevertheless, the touches became stronger. Soon they turned into brushes of wiry fur across his skin and the pinprick of claws and sharp teeth. Menacing feline sounds began echoing in the darkness.

Hyperventilating, Ranma tried to run away. He would have escaped back to the surface if he could. But the darkness was absolute, and there were no walls to follow. He didn't know which way to go. No matter which way he turned, he only encountered more empty darkness. The sense of hissing and yowling grew louder as the touches became more firm. He couldn't even escape into the oblivion of becoming a cat, because right now he was already in the part of his memory and spirit containing the Cat Fist.

For a brief second, he thought he imagined the sound of gentle purring and an excited trill beneath the fearsome racket. But it seemed too foreign, too strange amidst the terrifying bombardment. He listened, but it didn't repeat. Ranma dismissed it as a delusion.

Suddenly out of the corner of his eye, he saw a glimmer of light. As soon as Ranma leapt towards it, he ran into a smack into a wall and bounced back onto the floor. Reaching out, the wall felt cool and smooth, like glass. The light became brighter and brighter, until Ranma had to squint his eyes closed and cover them with his hands.

All sounds and sensations ceased.

In the silence, Ranma opened his eyes. He saw a pale, dark-haired man with sapphire eyes standing in front of him. Blinking at the spots pulsing in his eyes from the abrupt transition from dark to light, Ranma noticed that there the light came from a small, circular opening above the other man's head. Something about it seemed familiar, but he couldn't place it. Wary, Ranma stepped back to give himself some room. The man stepped back at the same time. As the spots dissipated from his eyes, Ranma looked more closely.

_Idiot._

It wasn't just any figure, it was Ranma himself. He was standing in front of a mirror. _Are you scared of your own reflection now? _he scoffed at himself.

Letting out a shuddering breath, Ranma shook tension out of his arms and tried to don his usual cocky facade. As he looked away from the mirror though, he couldn't see anything else around himself but the pale floor he stood on, stretching off into the distance on all sides. Looking up, he couldn't see a ceiling either, just darkness.

Ranma looked back at the mirror, then at the ceiling, then back at the mirror. The light source he'd noticed in the mirror wasn't above or behind him. _So was it just hidden from his eyes, or did it only exist inside the mirror itself?_

Taking a few steps back, Ranma ran forward and leaped up towards where the circle of light should be according to the reflection. His reaching fingers felt nothing. He tried several more times, but as far as he could tell, there was nothing there. That, or he just couldn't jump high enough.

Circling the mirror, he tried to figure out what to do next. Ranma glanced over at his reflection, paused, and asked, "Any bright ideas?" Of course the image didn't answer. "I need to find Akane," Ranma told it. "That's why I'm here." Meeting his eyes in the mirror, he vowed, "I'll do whatever it takes to find her, to keep her safe, to make sure she's still alive. Whatever it takes."

Nothing happened, but something about his reflection began to make Ranma feel unsettled. Shrugging, he looked away and resumed pacing. As much as he'd hated the feline cacophony, the current silence still felt creepy. Nevertheless, he had to get out of here if he was going to find Akane.

Ranma felt like he had to be missing something else, something in addition to the strange light source that only existed inside the mirror. _But what?_ As he once again vainly searched the area for some new object or exit, he found his attention flitting past his elongated shadow stretching across the floor. He didn't think anything of it, until he realized that no matter where he moved in his searching, the shadow stayed in the same place.

Trying to hide the sudden ratcheting up of his tension, Ranma turned to look down at his feet. It took him a moment to realize the problem. He wasn't casting a shadow.

Slowly he raised his gaze to the mirror. His reflected face looked wary. The image in front of him appeared exactly as it should… except for one thing. Although Ranma didn't have a shadow, his reflection did. And the shadow starting at the feet of his doppelganger had crept out of the image in the mirror and stretched across the floor until it almost reached Ranma.

Doing a double-take, Ranma saw the shadow seeping quickly across the floor like an overflowing puddle of midnight. Right before the shadow engulfed Ranma's foot, he realized that it wasn't in the shape of a man. The shadow was in the shape of a gigantic cat.

_Ca-ca-cat!_ shrieked his mind.

Tensing to spring away, he flicked a terrified look up at his reflection. But now Ranma's reflection didn't look scared. Instead, his doppelganger's lips pulled back to reveal far too many sharp teeth and a wickedly satisfied smirk.

Ranma wanted to run away and hide, wanted to jump forward and pulverize the mirror into powder. But before he could act one way or the other, the first wave of shadow lapped against his foot. Immediately his body became leaden. Just that fleeting touch had paralyzed his body.

"Whatever it takes," his reflection purred at his silent struggle.

Then the cat shadow began climbing up Ranma's body, phantom claws slicing rents across his flesh. The gaping wounds hurt, made him vulnerable. Ranma could somehow tell that their purpose wasn't to draw blood out, it was to make space for something else to crawl in.

Despite his best efforts to escape, Ranma's body refused to even blink. He could only watch as his reflection came closer and closer in the glass, until he stepped out of the mirror, glided down the midnight trail cast by his shadow, and came to a stop in front of Ranma. Leaning forward until they were separated by a bare fingers width, he tilted his head inquisitively, and looked enigmatically into Ranma's eyes.

A heartbeat passed, two, and then the reflection sighed, puffing warm air across Ranma's face. Ranma waited for him to move back, but he didn't. Instead, the doppelganger dropped his chin and leaned sideways to strop it across Ranma's shoulder and up his neck.

_Is this some kind of weird kitty scent marking or something?_ Ranma speculated wildly. _If only I could move, I'd punch you so hard even your ancestors would feel it. _No matter how hard he strained though, nothing so much as twitched.

_Get offa me, you creep! _He thought that as loud as he could.

Nothing happened.

_I want to wake up now!_

Still nothing.

Hovering by Ranma's ear, his doppelganger whispered, "Whatever it takes to save Akane, ne." Wary, Ranma tried to catch his expression out of the corner of his eye. Moving to Ranma's other side, the reflection repeated the strange rubbing, once again pausing by his ear.

Moist breath funneled down Ranma's neck, causing his skin to crawl. "Or," the reflection hissed, "is it, whatever it takes to save Ranma?" Leaning back, the doppelganger raised an eyebrow and asked, "Is there even a difference?"

Draping his hands around Ranma's neck, he gave an enigmatic smile and said, "You think you know, but you don't act like you know." Sharp claws kneaded the back of Ranma's neck as he purred, "I know."

Then Ranma's reflection pressed flush against him. Ranma felt claustrophobic. Then it got worse. Wrapping his arms around Ranma, the doppelganger dropped his head to Ranma's neck and clutched tighter and tighter, and then tighter still, until somehow he forced himself through Ranma's open wounds and vanished inside his body.

Paralysis disappeared abruptly, which Ranma discovered when he fell to the floor writhing and convulsing in pain. Silently screaming, he rolled to the side and vomited bile onto the floor. Panting, he rode waves of pain until he calmed down enough for him to crawl away from his mess.

After several minutes, he felt slightly less like dying. Slowly looking around as he tested his control of his body by tensing muscle groups one by one, Ranma began to notice things. Staring at the empty mirror, he finally figured out why that circle of light seemed familiar. This place was like the pit his father had thrown him into to learn the Cat Fist when he was a child.

Ranma remembered being trapped in that dark pit, surrounded and attacked by feral cats, staring up at that circle of light beseechingly for the faintest hint that his father was coming back to rescue him from feline hell. Even hours after they'd stopped, he'd still been able to see the glowing outline of that circle on the back of his eyelids every time he closed his eyes.

This mental space had always felt too dangerous, dark and primitive. It was damaged. He was damaged. But it was still his space, in his memory and in his spirit.

It was his.

Strangely, as he looked around himself, he felt a faint feeling of satisfaction. Ranma didn't understand it. He was too exhausted to figure it out.

For the moment, he was _done_.

Flopping down onto the floor, he flung out his hands in a stretch. His left hand bumped into something. Curious, he leaned over to see what he'd touched. The room had been empty when he'd examined it before.

Ranma found a messy knot the size of a softball attached to a braided cord rising out of the floor. The knot had broken filaments sprouting up all over it like weeds, some clean cut and others jagged. A colorful kaleidoscope of rope, fabric strips, yarn, and even plastic zip ties were tangled throughout to knot. From the top stretched a single cord, thin as spider's silk and red as blood, which continued up into the darkness until it disappeared above his head.

Pain forgotten, Ranma cautiously brushed it with the barest tip of his finger. The thread vibrated as if plucked and gave off a light sweet tone. He'd found Akane. She was still alive.

Euphoria swept away his pain. Closing his eyes in relief, Ranma felt his body and thoughts become as light and insubstantial as mist. Time stretched like taffy.

Then everything snapped back into place.

Opening his eyes, Ranma felt whole. The shoji walls glowed in the sunlight and the shadows had only moved slightly since he'd first entered this room. Surprised, he realized that his mental journey couldn't have taken as long as it seemed.

Feeling unsettled, he whispered the words on the scroll he'd read earlier out loud, "ura niwa ura ga aru." The reverse side also has a reverse side. Good advice, but he felt that it was pretty obvious that there was more to this situation than he understood. However, he'd have to leave figuring out what had just changed for another time.

Right now, his priority was Akane. As soon as he thought of her, he felt the fragile spiritual cord still linking them together. It would lead him to her. Sighing in relief, Ranma slipped out of the room and jogged off to find his fiancée.

[To be continued]

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AN: In the next chapter, Ranma and Akane will finally have a conversation together where there are no bystanders to interrupt or interject. It has been many long chapters since this last occurred. Potentially, there will also be bad touching, of a sort. You'll have to wait and see what that means.

I'm curious, what is your favorite scene in this fic so far? I've been thinking about some of my favorite images (which may or may not be fav scenes) and how I hope someone will make me some fanart. What would you like to see someone draw? Scenes that I think would make amazing pictures:

Akane eating the peach in the marketplace, while Ranma and the shopkeeper stared at her and drooled/blushed,

Akane fighting off the rapists and evil pearls with an unconscious Ranko in the background

Akane floating down the river with Ranko on her back, while cats pace her on the shore

Facing off against the iriomote cats in the cave, any part of that, like when Akane throws fruit or stands in front of Ranma or cat fist Ranma sits on her to check if she is possessed

Cat Fist Ranma licking the side of Akane's face

Akane getting patched up by Mariko while cat fist Ranma sat on her feet

Ranma practicing Martial Arts Geometry, with some cool angles and circles and equations squiggled on the picture like those sport commercials

Ranma facing off against his mirror cat fist self in this chapter

I'm sure there must be more. Let me know if you have any ideas, preferences, or better yet, if you have any pictures to show the rest of us!


	18. Ranma knits a lace collar

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and its characters do not belong to me.

AN: Thank you for continuing with me! Also, thanks for the PM nudges, caia-chan and Vashka. You guys rock. Hopefully you'll agree that this chapter has some yummy bits worth waiting for. No beta, as usual lately, so if you notice any problems let me know so I can fix them.

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**No more pussyfooting around**: a Ranma ½ fanfic

By Indygodusk

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**Chapter 18: Ranma knits a lace collar**

_Feeling unsettled, Ranma whispered the words on the scroll he'd read earlier out loud, "ura niwa ura ga aru." The reverse side also has a reverse side. Good advice, but he felt that it was pretty obvious that there was more to this situation than he understood. However, he'd have to leave figuring out what had just changed for another time._

_Right now, his priority was Akane. As soon as he thought of her, he felt the fragile spiritual cord still linking them together. It would lead him to her. Sighing in relief, Ranma slipped out of the room and jogged off to find his fiancée._

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The disruptive sound of slamming cupboards and clattering pottery drew Mariko away from her work and down the hall. At the closed door of the kitchen she heard someone behind her say "Hey," and turned her head to see Aoi striding towards her.

"Who's making that racket?" Aoi asked.

"No idea," Mariko replied. "Let's see."

Opening the door revealed a woman crouched on her hands and knees on the kitchen floor, her head disappearing into the bottom of the cupboard with bowls, pots, and pans scattered across the floor beside her. Cursing echoed out as more kitchenware clattered. Seconds later, a bleached blond head popped out, festooned with dust bunnies and slightly tangled hair.

"Sachi," Aoi scolded, "what are you doing in here making such a mess?"

"Ack!" yelped Sachi, falling backwards onto her bottom is surprise. "When did you come in?"

Mariko shook her head and, chucking, helped Sachi to her feet. "Just now, but if you're looking for that rotgut you like to drink, Aoi hid it somewhere else after your last bender."

Aoi shrugged her shoulders unrepentantly at Sachi's glare. "Alcohol won't solve your problems. I've told you before, you need to stop relying on it so much. Besides, you always disrupt lessons when you're drunk, and then you mope about feeling embarrassed and guilty for days afterwards. Plus, you gave me permission last month to hide it after you had that accidental threesome."

At Sachi's look of forced confusion and mumbled disclaimer, Aoi narrowed her eyes and continued. "You remember that, right Mariko? She stumbled off with a boy twenty years younger AND a geezer twenty years older than her at the same time, and then had to do the walk of shame back up the mountain. She needed a series of antibiotic shots for all the bite marks, and decided to traumatize the nurse by describing how the geezer couldn't get it up and the boy went off before he even got her clothes off. That poor girl now turns beet red and runs in the opposite direction every time she sees Sachi coming."

Mariko's lips twitched and she coughed into her hand. "Oh yes, that. And then there was the time before that when-," she began before Sachi interrupted.

"All right already, we get the point! No alcohol for Sachi today." She pouted with a shifty look to her eyes. "Can I go now?" she asked as she tossed her blond hair over one shoulder.

Shaking her head slowly, Mariko bluntly said, "No. Let's just avoid the part where you search the rest of the compound for something irresponsible to do, and go straight to the part where you tell us what's bothering you."

"Maybe I don't want to tell you," Sachi sniffed.

Rolling her eyes, Mariko grabbed Sachi's arm and towed her out of the kitchen and into her office, ignoring her resistance and the mess they'd left behind. "Now don't be like that, you know we worry about you and just want to help," Mariko said as she shoved Sachi down by the low table. Aoi followed, closed the door, and then sprawled down onto a pillow next to Sachi. "So what happened to set you off?"

When Mariko dropped down across from them, Sachi groaned and buried her face in her hands. "How is this my life?" she moaned. "Fine. You know that I never wanted to be the responsible one that people look up to, right?"

Patting her back consolingly, Aoi soothed, "Calm down, no one really looks up to you. In fact, we use you as an example of what not to do when we teach the newbies."

Smacking Aoi in the arm, and ignoring her "ouch," Sachi looked up at Mariko beseechingly. "You sure I couldn't have just a little drink? To calm my nerves? Or that bottle of itching powder you confiscated to put in Aoi's bed?"

"No," Mariko replied. "Talk."

Sighing, Sachi tucked her hair behind her ears and began to explain. "It's Akane. That girl is so young, yet she's seen more battles and supernatural things than 90% of this monastery put together. Her strength of will is astonishing. The marks on her soul are so complex I can barely untangle what they mean. I haven't been this out of my depth in years. Plus, the few things I can see are…" she paused and looked into space for a minute.

"Are what?" Aoi asked softly.

Sachi blinked and focused back on her friends, "They're terrible. I've never seen anything like that before. The pattern of her ki reads like she's seconds from death… but at the same time not dying, she's possessed by demons… but not demonic. There are traces of animalistic influences, but she's fully human. I don't understand it. When I was examining her ki, something jumped out and _bit_ me. It felt like a small-scale ki attack and stung like a mother. However it wasn't her ki, it came from somewhere else. That should be impossible." Shaking her head she finished, "There's so much magic and competing outside forces tunneling though that girl that I don't know how she seems so normal."

The other women blanched in shock at her words. "Is there anything you can do to fix her?" asked Mariko.

"I did my best to minimize those outside bonds," Sachi explained with a flail of her hands, "but I wasn't able to sever them completely. The scaffolding supporting her soul is so fragile, I'm afraid that if I try to do more, it might collapse completely like a house of cards," she pulled on her blond strands in frustration, "destroying her spirit and causing death or, even worse, turning her into some sort of zombie or golem. I did my best, but I just don't know enough! I'm not even sure that I _can_ fix her completely."

Rubbing her aching head, Sachi continued, "I downplayed my worries because the girl herself was freaking out, and I think I convinced Akane that everything will be fine as long as she leaves it alone, but that's only a theory on my part. I need to go and do some research before I do anything more."

Pausing, she sighed. "I hate homework." Looking earnest, she continued. "I mean really hate it. But she deserves better than this. Akane's heart is still so pure and strong, despite the many challenges she's faced in her young life. Seeing that purity shining through her soul is beautiful. I'd hate to damage or destroy that."

Sachi took a deep breath, and then added in a rush, "I also don't trust that Ranma of hers. There's something hinky about him and their relationship, beyond the obvious, but Akane is too wrapped up in him to listen to any warnings from a stranger, so I didn't bother wasting my breath. I still insist that you should have let me examine him before sending him down the mountain, though." She shrugged and sat back.

After a beat of silence, Mariko quirked a smile and commented, "Hinky? Only six year-old boys and grannies use that word."

"Oh shut up," rejoined Sachi weakly. "That's what you remark on? Out of all of that?"

Leaning over, Aoi hugged her around the shoulders. "No one knows everything," she consoled, "and I haven't seen you being this responsible in ages. You didn't cause those problems, you just discovered them. We're proud of you already for trying to help her out, and …" she winked, "for not blaming her for clocking you in the face. That shows a surprising amount of maturity considering your usual behavior."

"Meh," Sachi shrugged, but looked somewhat consoled.

"Teasing aside," added Mariko, "we're always here for you, as your friends and comrades. If there's anything we can do to help you or Akane, just let us know. We'll be there."

Allowing maturity to shine through, Sachi met her friends' eyes and gifted them with a nod and smile. That done, she decided to revert to type, "So if alcohol and pranks are off the table, I insist on having cookies. Chocolate ones. And you lot are going to help me steal some… or else!"

* * *

Ranma jogged through the gardens without any attempt at stealth, avoiding the monks now by blind luck. Focused solely on the thread of feeling vibrating down the cord connecting him to Akane, his eyes raked over the ornamental plants and carved statues blindly.

_Where was she?_

Passing a tree, he did an abrupt turn when he caught sight of a limp hand on the ground next to a golden peach out of the corner of his eye. Ranma ran around the tree and skidded to his knees next to Akane. She rested unmoving upon the ground as if merely napping in the sunshine. Her face looked peaceful.

But a sleeping Akane would never really lie so still. Normally she tossed and turned violently. Her chest didn't even seem to be moving with breath. And freshly fallen snow possessed more color than the flesh of her face. Only the faint blue tracery of veins on her eyelids and the palest blush of pink on her lips kept her from looking like a monochromatic woodblock print of a fairytale princess. That or a Juliet.

Ranma swallowed painfully and reached out. To distract himself from panic at her still form, he let his thoughts follow that tangent to dwell on something he usually avoided: the moment during their school production of Romeo and Juliet when Akane tricked him by putting tape on his mouth before she had to kiss him. Despite the tape over his lips, he'd still felt the moist puff of her breath on his cheeks and the tickle of her hair on his forehead. It had been intimate, even with the tape, and he'd had many dreams in the years since of what might have happened if there'd never been any tape, or if he'd ripped it off his mouth and then pulled her back to his lips the way he'd wanted to. A kiss between them hadn't happened yet, but he'd always assumed it would someday when he finally worked up the nerve.

But what if it was too late? Again?

Brutally suppressing any memories of the last time he'd been (almost) too late for Akane, Ranma touched trembling fingers to her neck. He held his breath as he smoothed the pads of his fingers up the column of her pale throat to feel for a pulse, desperate to validate that the spiritual cord's pulsing of life wasn't a lie. One moment passed, then two, before he finally felt a flutter against his fingertips. Expelling his breath in relief, he nevertheless kept his fingers pressed to her throat until he'd counted ten precious heartbeats.

"Wake up, Akane," he said. She didn't move. Shaking her shoulders and tapping her face produced no results either. Her head lolled to the side. "Come on, sleepyhead. Wake up," he ordered firmly. She remained limp.

Staring at her face for any signs of stirring, Ranma found his gaze drawn to her Cupid's bow mouth. Were her lips darker, more flushed with color since he first arrived? '_That had to be a good sign, right?' _

Cradling her head in his hands, Ranma found his thumb sliding up to slowly caress the slightly chapped skin of her bottom lip. "Akane," he swallowed, then coaxed softly, "wake up… it's Ranma."

Despite how long they'd known each other, Ranma had never touched Akane like this before, never known the texture of her lips. He'd wondered about it, what red-blooded male wouldn't, but fear had kept him from assuaging his curiosity or even thinking about it too hard when around her. That fear now seemed muted, as if a distant memory that no longer proved relevant. Just touching her made him feel better and started to dispel the panic of the last hour. If he could, he'd be purring.

Nevertheless, he couldn't truly relax until she woke up. Cocking his head to the side, Ranma sat back and evaluated what else he could do. He let his fingers trace up and down her forearm as he thought. A nervous little voice in his mind kept listing all the reasons why he should stop touching her this way, should keep his distance. But he didn't have any good ideas for waking her up… except one.

It was a terrible idea. However, it was the only idea he had left. Shaking her and shouting didn't seem to be doing any good. Besides, this was something that he really, really wanted to do anyways. So he threw all of those reasons to stop touching her away, and gave himself up to emotion and instinct.

First, he had to somehow repair the bond between their spirits.

Following some inner prompting, he leaned over Akane and let his hands hover over her body for a second before decisively encircling her neck with his hands. She was so small. His fingers easily enclosed her neck. He forgot how tiny she was sometimes. Akane's personality was so strong when she was awake.

Letting the thump of her heartbeat against his palms soothe him, Ranma let his eyes drift shut and concentrated. He tried to will his energy through his hands and underneath her skin. Going purely by instinct at this point, he slid his hands down her neck until his palms rested over her heart. Distantly he noticed the soft swell of her bosom, but his attention was consumed more with the rapid drain of his ki as the skin under his hands grew warm and soaked in his energy. He didn't know how he was doing this, and right now he didn't care. All that mattered was that it was working. Somehow he knew she needed it, needed him right now.

Pulling his hands back, Ranma let himself catch his breath for a minute. Then he used every spiritual technique, trick, and cheat he'd ever learned, along with blind intuition and dogged determination, to try and reinforce the fragile filament connecting him to Akane. He pulled bits of his ki out from every nook and cranny of his being, knitting them together until his fingers shook with fatigue and hundreds of threads of pure energy dangled from his hands like a shawl of the finest gold lace.

Panting and sweating with the effort, Ranma's vision started to tunnel. Acid seared his stomach. Shaking off his exhaustion, Ranma set his jaw and forced his body to obey. He would not drop his work now, not when he was so close. Actions guided almost purely by instinct now, he carefully looped his golden shawl under Akane's head and around her neck. Taking each end, he twisted them into two thin cords. His fingers felt seared, and began to go numb in spots, but Ranma again ignored it. Using the barest pressure possible, he nudged the bond tying him and Akane up from her body. Then he gently incorporated it into a braid using the two cords of his ki.

As soon as he finished, he took a shaky breath. _Now comes the test._ Bracing himself, he gave the spiritual braid now connecting them a hard yank. There was a flash of light and Akane jerked, arching her back before flopping back onto the ground. The new cord held.

Ranma let go of the cord. The hundreds of small threads making up the shawl frayed off from the end of the braid and remained connected to his hands. Blinking his dry eyes rapidly, Ranma let himself finally relax his iron control. His ability to sense the cord and individual threads weakened once he stopped concentrating, but they were still there. If needed, he could find and reinforce their bond again.

Rubbing his face, he turned to see how Akane was reacting to his actions. Her chest now rose and fell strongly with her breathing. She even began to produce a slight snore. He smiled at the cute sound and took pride in the color returning to her cheeks.

It had worked. Well, mostly worked. She still hadn't woken up yet.

However, their connection was back. It felt stronger than ever. Strangely, it also felt somehow different from before. He'd figure it out later.

Sighing, Ranma let his hands curve back up to cradle Akane's face. Smoothing his thumb up along the seam of her mouth, he watched as his calluses caught slightly on her lips, exposing the barest hint of white teeth. He could feel the moist puff of her breath tickling his fingers as the color slowly deepened even more on her lips.

However, despite the renewed cord and his bold actions, her eyelashes still didn't even flutter. Shaking his head, Ranma told himself to stop fondling her lips and to figure out how to wake Akane up.

"C'mon, you're acting like some sorta helpless Disney Princess, waiting to be saved by some lame old prince," he prodded, knowing she'd hate the implication that she couldn't save herself. "Wake up or I'll have ta' do something drastic. Considering what I've already done today, that's sayin' something." At her lack of response, Ranma looked around quickly to make sure they were still alone. It was habit. Plus, he really didn't want to be kicked out by monks before he saw Akane wake up.

Then he turned back and muttered, "Hell, maybe I want ta do somethin' drastic. What's one more thing today?" Placing one hand on the ground next to her head, he slowly leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "Last chance to wake up and stop me, 'kane."

For a second he just breathed, inhaling the scent of her hair. Then he leaned back to look into her face. "Maybe you are a princess, Akane… my Princess, though I'm no Prince," he whispered with a self-deprecating laugh. "I guess I'll have to do, though. No other guy is allowed to touch you, even if they could break your curse and wake ya' up." He grimaced for a second, "Well, maybe I'd let them kiss you if it'd wake you up quicker, but then I'd have to kill them or ship them off to Antarctica or somethin'."

He felt a little punch drunk and a lot reckless, revealing his heart this way. Perhaps he was acting out of character, saying out loud things he'd only contemplated in secret in shadowed places. But he couldn't seem to stop himself. He didn't want to.

"You're mine," his declared starkly, a bass growl underlining his words. Then a smirk softened the intensity of his expression, "even if you'd try to kick my head in if you heard me saying that."

Staring intently at Akane's face, he lowered his head until he was hovering above her mouth. "I'll wake you up, Princess Akane," he teased softly. Then he became serious. His mouth opened and closed several times, as if to say something more, but nothing came out. Finally, he swallowed audibly.

"I can't say the most important part out loud just yet, Akane. Besides, maybe you should be awake for that part?" He cleared his throat awkwardly. "But, well, you know what a kiss at a time like this is called anyways, right?"

Then Ranma leaned forward and pressed his lips gently to Akane's. Tingling warmth surged across his heart and fizzed in his belly. It was the sweetest kiss he'd ever given. In fact, it was the only kiss he'd ever willingly given.

As Ranma's eyes drifted shut, he silently beseeched Akane to wake up, to move those lush lips against his so that it became a kiss shared instead of one stolen. He'd had too many kisses stolen without his consent over the years. Maybe this was wrong, but he couldn't go another moment with the regret of never kissing Akane hanging over his head.

At least he'd remember this one. Their actual first kiss was when he'd been in the cat fist. It was something stolen from them both. He couldn't remember it no matter how hard he tried, and she didn't seem to want to remember it.

Pained by the thought, Ranma realized that this wasn't working. No matter how sweet her lips felt, or the lingering taste of peach enticing his tongue, he wanted Akane awake and kissing him back. But she still wasn't moving.

Although his lips still wanted to cling, Ranma pulled away. _Now what?_ Ranma asked himself as he sat back on his heels and forced himself to ignore the moist sheen now gracing Akane's lips. One (long and lingering) kiss hadn't woken her up. He'd been foolish to think it would. He stomped down on the thought that maybe a second, or third, kiss was really needed to confirm that. After all, hadn't he said it already? He was no prince. He should have known better, he though in self-disgust. The only royal titles he might aspire to were king of fighters or king of tricksters.

A breeze ruffled his clothing and caused leaves to swirl down from the surrounding trees in helices of topaz and gold. Brushing unruly hair out of Akane's eyes tenderly, Ranma thought at first he'd imagined the faint furrow of her brow. Then Akane's nose twitched.

"Akane?" he called hopefully, pulling his fingers away from her face and closing his hand carefully, dropping it to his side. Her eyelashes trembled for a moment, almost but not quite opening. Her head moved to the side as she wiggled and stretched. Then her eyes blinked opened. She squinted around herself for a moment before focusing on Ranma.

"Ranma?" she said in confusion. "What are you doing here? Is it time to go already?" She yawned and sat up gingerly.

Ranma felt something that might have been an echo of a twinge in his side. Either he'd imagined it, or she was sore from sleeping on the ground, he decided. The input from the bond was too confusing to interpret properly.

"I was just taking a nap," she explained, blushing an enchanting pink when she saw how closely he was sitting.

Forcing himself to recline back onto his hands so she'd relax, Ranma responded. "Nah, I just came up to see how you were doing." Although Akane looked a million times better than she had when Ranma had found her, there was still a paleness to her features and bruising beneath her eyes that shouldn't be there. "You're still recovering from your cold, right? We can go whenever ya feel up to it, don't worry."

"No, I'm fi-," Akane began before interrupting herself with a wide yawn. "I'm just a little tired still from being _sick_, but I am feeling better," she said with a strange emphasis in her voice. "And then there was the…," she trailed off into uncomfortable silence, and then continued with a false brightness, "We can leave tomorrow after a good night's sleep. Sorry for slowing us down."

Narrowing his eyes, Ranma tilted his head to the side and examined her features closely. "Is that really all? You don't just look sick. You look stressed out and upset. I've seen you look pretty ugly, but right now, you could almost give Gosunkugi a run for his money on the sunken eyed, despairing look."

"Hey! You are such a jerk!" Akane yelped and glared.

Ranma's lips twitched in a smirk, but he kept talking. "So don't lie to me. What's going on?"

"Nothing!" she deflected. But she also rolled her shoulders guiltily and wouldn't meet his eyes. Normally she was a much better liar than this.

"Akane," Ranma said, soft and serious, waiting until she raised her eyes to his face. "Tell me. Please."

Sagging, Akane began twisting her fingers into the edge of her shirt. Ranma listened intently as she haltingly began to explain that a monk named Sachi had read her spirit and discovered potential demon possessions, plural. However, he couldn't completely control the twitch when she revealed the woman's unsuccessful attempts to remove the foreign influence she'd found.

'_That bitch_,' Ranma thought with a cold viciousness usually foreign to his nature, '_how dare she try to cut me out of Akane?_' Because that had to be what the female monk had sensed in Akane: the bond tying her to Ranma. He had no idea why Akane had let the woman read her spirit so deeply in the first place, but now it was up to him to calm her fears.

"Did she say anything else, or how it could have happened?" he asked, barely keeping his cool.

After a slight pause, Akane answered. "No, she just said I had marks of possession, and that talking about it too much or messing with it could be dangerous."

Something seemed to be missing from her explanation, but Ranma's mind was spinning too much to bother with it. He had other things to worry about. Akane didn't seem to know that the foreign influence belonged to Ranma just yet. _Good_. He didn't want her trying to mess with the bond anymore than she already had. The braided bond between them obviously helped Akane, she looked tons better ever since he'd repaired it. So she should leave it alone.

"What a load of crock, Akane," Ranma began scathingly. "The only good piece of advice seems to be the one to forget about it and leave it alone. I'm sure this broad is good at reading the ki of a normal person or a peaceful monk, but I doubt she comes across many people who get into as much trouble as we do. I mean, just think about it."

He saw Akane staring at him inquisitively, so he smirked at her and continued. "Those traces she sensed are probably left over from all of the craziness in our lives the last few years. To name just one of a zillion examples," he pointed a finger at her, "what about the haunted onsen and that doll that swapped bodies with you over a year ago? Don't you think that probably left a mark of possession, even though you've never had any other problems with it? Maybe she's sensing that."

Ranma deliberately avoided mentioning her drowning at Jusenkyo, and the pool that now bore her form. It didn't matter that it might be a better example for his argument. Both of them avoided mentioning that trip, especially after the last failed wedding. Just the thought of it made him experience a horrid combination of anxiety, terror, and rage. Ranma tried to ruthlessly suppress those feelings and think up more prevarications.

Perhaps it was this state of distraction that caused him to not immediately notice anything odd about his hands reaching out naturally, as if he'd done it a hundred times before, to cup Akane's shoulders and squeeze lightly. "You shouldn't worry about it, Akane." Then he smoothed his hands up until they cradled the base of her neck, using his thumbs to tilt up her chin until she met his eyes. His fingertips caressed the tender skin and soft hairs at her nape. He'd always wanted to touch her like this when she got scared, but he never had. '_How foolish of me_,' he thought vaguely, before he became distracted by the sight before him.

Twin circles of red burned on Akane's cheeks as she bit her lower lip nervously, that lip that he'd been kissing just a few minutes ago. '_Could she still taste me there,'_ he wondered, '_and would she recognize it as me if she did?_' His fingers spanned her slender neck like a collar, rough hands slightly darker than the shade of her smooth skin. All together it made a very pretty picture.

Ranma continued, "Considering that we haven't ever noticed any problems, I think you should take what she said with a grain of salt and relax. You know you're tough. I'm sure your spirit is the same." She hadn't hit him yet, even though he was still touching her face. Ranma wanted to see if she'd let him kiss her.

That thought made Ranma finally register the voice in the back of his head that had been stuttering for some time now that he was acting _completely_ out of character. What was wrong with him?

'_Nothing's wrong, you're just finally right_,' a different voice whispered in his mind.

'_Maybe… or maybe not._' He regretfully needed some distance from Akane to figure himself out, to figure out what had made him act so weird/honest/amorous/unlike himself.

Especially before he did something that made Akane run away from him in horror. He couldn't risk losing Akane. He needed her.

Ranma let his hands slip off her shoulders and stepped back. He noticed that Akane had relaxed her tight grip on the edge of her shirt. She even graced him with a smile and admitted that he was probably right about the state of her spirit. A small part of him was pleased to note that her blush hadn't disappeared.

"You should go back inside to rest some more," Ranma said, taking another step back from Akane, despite his body clamoring for him to move forward and sweep her up into his arms. Maybe tomorrow, he told himself wistfully.

"I'm told you I'm fine," she insisted, rolling her eyes. "But… you could come back with me for dinner," Akane offered shyly.

A pleased smile crossed his lips, "Nah, I need to sneak out before I get beaten to a pulp by the ladies around here. Just take care of yourself and I'll see you when you're feeling better."

Waving goodbye with a forced casualness, Ranma trotted off into the forest to circle around the compound before heading back down the mountain. He didn't allow himself to glance back at Akane as he left. However, he did increase his attention on their soul bond, letting the feel of her soothe the beast inside wanting to race back to her side immediately.

Sure, Ranma had totally and completely lied to Akane, but he felt no shame about it. He acknowledged that at some point his spirit must have invaded and somehow possessed hers. It might not have been on purpose at first, but he didn't regret it now. It might be against the "natural order" of things according to those stupid lady monks, but he didn't really give a flying fig for their opinions. No one could make him leave Akane. No one could make him willingly give up this connection. And what Akane didn't know, wouldn't worry her. After all, she'd been fine in Nerima with this connection between them for months now.

Yes, Ranma decided, she didn't need to know. Now he just had to decide if he wanted to embrace the new him, or go back to the old, and if this change in the way he was thinking was dangerous. He needed to seriously consider this.

However… the new him got to touch Akane _without_ getting clobbered. She might have even let him kiss her, and might have kissed him back. With perks like that, maybe it was better not to question this new him too much.

Well, at least he had until tomorrow to decide.

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

AN: What do you think? Please let me know!

I've been struggling with RL for quite a while, hence the sporadic update schedule. Having a baby a year and a half ago really changed my life and priorities, and I've been struggling to have any motivation for my Ph.D. work. I might have to finish with a Master's degree after 7 years. I tell myself that at least I got an 'M r s' and an 'M o m' while I've been here, but I still feel like a bit of a failure for not managing to find enough oomph to get that Ph.D.

Of course, instead of confronting that work, I skipped off to write this chapter instead to garner some positive feedback. Your reviews really do make me happy and inspire me to keep going on the writing. Have you ever started out a chapter with an outline, and then had your muse refuse to follow it? What is really driving me crazy lately are that the characters, especially Ranma, keep veering off of my outline and doing things I didn't intend for them to do or say or think. So then I have to figure out how to fit that into my plans. Args. For example, Ranma wasn't supposed to kiss Akane for 2 more chapters! But he insisted! And got all touchy with her before he was supposed to. But unconscious Akane liked it and wouldn't let me delete it and start over to get things back on track, so here we are. Maybe she was dancing with Jareth in a masquerade until Ranma woke her up (the peach, get it?). I'll figure it out somehow. Hopefully they aren't too out of character or unbelievable considering their current ages and the plot.

Thanks again for reading!


	19. Akane eats dreams and leaves

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and its characters do not belong to me.

AN: Thank you for all of the good advice and encouragement about RL.

Also, for those of you disturbed by Ranma's actions lately, keep in mind that the POVs in this fic are always biased towards the narrator's current knowledge, opinions, and prejudices. Also, this fic is about character growth, which means people doing stupid, selfish, immature, irrational, or sketchy things that they don't personally think are wrong. Then down the road there are severe consequences to those actions, forcing them to change and grow.

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**No more pussyfooting around**: a Ranma ½ fanfic

By Indygodusk

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**Chapter 19: Akane eats (****shoots)**** dreams and leaves**

_Sure, Ranma had totally and completely lied to Akane, but he felt no shame about it. He acknowledged that at some point his spirit must have invaded and somehow possessed hers. It might not have been on purpose at first, but he didn't regret it now. It might be against the "natural order" of things according to those stupid lady monks, but he didn't really give a flying fig for their opinions. No one could make him leave Akane. No one could make him willingly give up this connection. And what Akane didn't know, wouldn't worry her. After all, she'd been fine in Nerima with this connection between them for months now. _

_Yes, Ranma decided, she didn't need to know. Now he just had to decide if he wanted to embrace the new him, or go back to the old, and if this change in the way he was thinking was dangerous. He needed to seriously consider this._

_However… the new him got to touch Akane without getting clobbered. She might have even let him kiss her, and might have kissed him back. With perks like that, maybe it was better not to question this new him too much. _

_Well, at least he had until tomorrow to decide._

* * *

As Akane strolled back towards the monastery, she felt both flustered and giddy. Heat radiated from her cheeks. For a second there, she could have sworn that Ranma was going to kiss her! Her pulse was still racing. She felt like pinching herself just to make sure she wasn't dreaming. After sweetly calming her anxieties about being possessed, Ranma had cradled her jaw in his hands so gently. Then his fingers had softly caressed her neck. Ranma had actually complimented her… without an accompanying insult! Akane felt like floating.

Nothing could bring her down!

Until a guilty thought punctured her ballooning optimism and pointed out how Akane had totally and completely lied to Ranma. He'd asked if she knew anything about how she might have become possessed. She'd told him no.

But Akane didn't want to talk about waking up in that room and the things that had happened there. She hadn't even told the female monks everything. It made Akane sick just thinking about it and the nightmares it had caused. Even trying to imagine describing it all to Ranma made her break out in a cold sweat.

Besides which, Sachi had cautioned her not to talk or think about demons or that evil necklace, or risk of harming her damaged spirit. Akane had already taken a risk just by talking to Ranma as much as she had. Better to stop now before something bad actually happened to her.

Akane was going to try and take Sachi's advice to not worry and just live her life. She felt fine, especially after her nap. In fact, she felt stronger than ever.

Tomorrow she would be healthy enough to leave the monastery and fly out of Okinawa. Sachi had said that distance helped with these things. There was probably nothing Ranma could do anyways but worry until Sachi went and did her research. What Ranma didn't know, wouldn't worry him.

Besides which, it was Akane's soul - not Ranma's. She had the right to keep this to herself if she wanted to. If she was wrong, it wouldn't end up hurting anyone but herself.

A rather pensive Akane stepped inside the monastery and made her way towards the eating hall. Just like before, she found Sachi, Mariko, and Aoi sitting around laughing. Sachi had a dark smudge of something on her chin that looked like melted chocolate.

"Akane!" called out Mariko with a wave. "Come and sit with us and have a cookie."

"Hey," grumbled Sachi, "don't go giving away all my loot now." She wiped a pile of crumbs off the top of a stack of books by her elbow. From what Akane could see of the titles, they seemed to be about reading chakras, manipulating spiritual energy, and possession by demons and other kami.

_Just some light reading for my little problem,_ Akane thought to herself with a sigh.

Mariko rolled her eyes at Sachi's whine and passed Akane a chocolate chip cookie from the ceramic bowl in the center of the table. Akane started to plop down onto the bench next to Mariko, but a sharp pain from her side quickly halted her spontaneous movement. Inhaling sharply, she lowered herself much more cautiously to the bench.

Aoi nodded in greeting and asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Much better after my nap outside in the sunshine," Akane answered. "For a while I had this awful, piercing headache and felt really weak and ill, but sleeping helped a lot. That and seeing Ra-," Akane cut herself off and cleared her throat, not wanting to get Ranma into trouble for sneaking in, "seeing the rain clouds move away," she finished instead. Smiling in a way she hoped didn't look guilty, Akane took a bite of her cookie.

Cocking her head to the side, Sachi asked, "Did this awful headache start before or after our meeting?"

"After," Akane answered. "But I really do feel tons better now."

"Hmm," mused Sachi, "I wonder if your spirit had become so used to relying on the other entities that when I pinched the connection closed, it went into withdrawal like someone missing a dose of drugs. Or your energy could have started to collapse like a cracked wall deprived of scaffolding." She looked up and met Akane's eyes guiltily. "I'm sorry. I didn't even think of that being a possibility" she apologized.

Akane smiled back and didn't notice the anxious twisting of her hands crushing her cookie. "That's okay," she said softly. "I feel fine."

Sachi continued, "Of course, considering the amount of entwinement, I'm surprised that you can even walk right now. You sure you aren't still feeling weak or lightheaded?"

Akane just shook her head, having no explanation for her surge of energy.

"Well," Mariko said, "we're just glad you are feeling better. Sachi plans on leaving tonight to go and see a few people about your problem. She'll come and visit you in Nerima after she finds you a few more answers."

Expressing her thanks, Akane looked down in surprise at her pulverized cooking and blushed at the mess. As she cleaned up her pile of cookie crumbs, she added, "I need to leave tomorrow myself to make the flight back to Tokyo."

"Are you sure that's wise?" interjected Aoi. "You just barely woke up from your fever, after all."

"I'm feeling better now," Akane dismissed. "I'll be fine." Thanking them again for their help with a small bow, she turned and returned to her assigned room.

* * *

Early the next morning, Akane waited anxiously for Mariko to examine the stitches crisscrossing the knife wound in her side. Akane had packed the night before. As soon as Mariko gave her the all clear, she planned to hike down the mountain to the men's temple where Ranma was staying. Akane still felt bruised and had a lingering weakness from her fever. But she was tough. She'd be fine.

Mariko cleaned off the pus still leaking from the wound with a soft cloth and then leaned over to sniff for infection at Akane's side. Grimacing, Akane nevertheless forced herself to hold still throughout the cleaning and final application of a pale cream. "I think the worse of the infection is finally gone," Mariko explained. "Here's some more salve for you to keep applying for the next few weeks until it stops leaking. The stitches should dissolve on their own, but if it gives you any trouble, get your doctor to look at it."

Sitting back, Mariko gave Akane a serious look. "Are you sure you have to leave now? I really think a few more days rest would be best. I'm afraid you'll open this up again and get another infection if you don't take it easy."

Akane appreciated Mariko's concern, but she refused to sit around any longer. To be honest, she missed her family and friends and wanted to burn the bed she'd been stuck in during her illness. She was sick of being sick. Plus, she school was starting up again soon.

Another consideration urging her to leave was Ranma. Akane missed him. For almost two years now, she'd seen him almost every day. She liked seeing him every day. He was often the first and last face she saw each morning and night, a bookend stabilizing her life. Not having him here threw her off. Plus he'd been acting unlike himself the last time she'd seen him. She hoped he was okay.

After hugging Mariko goodbye, Akane set off down the mountain to collect Ranma. Rays of the newly risen sun illuminated the path connecting the two monasteries. As Akane walked, she reflected on the strange dream she'd had the night before.

In Akane's dream, it felt like she was seeing out of Ranma's eyes while in the grip of the cat fist. She'd been crouching up in a tree wearing Ranma's black pants and tank top, sporting Ranma's masculine chest, and staring down at a dream Akane as she practiced a mish-mash of styles in the dojo from martial arts gymnastics to martial arts shadow puppetry. Then her dream self had jumped down from the tree and padded over to Akane, where she felt herself start to purr and rub up against her legs, disrupting her practice. In her dream, she could see a black braid hanging over her own masculine shoulder. Dream Akane reached down and flicked it out of her face, patting cat Ranma on the back before tugging her towards the pond and splashing her with cold water.

That's when Akane had woken up. Since she'd lived through Ranma turning into a cat and watching her practice from a tree just a couple of weeks ago, Akane didn't think too much of reliving it from his point of view. She'd looked pretty cool in her dream too, she told herself with a sleepy smile. Ranma was still skeptical about the martial arts shadow puppetry Akane had learned the month before, but there were a few moves in it that held potential for distracting or even blinding an opponent. Akane just had to figure out how to integrate them without a fixed light source like a flashlight. Then he'd get a surprise.

Turning over gingerly to baby her wounded side, she'd easily fallen back to sleep. Another dream had quickly sucked her under. The memory of it had dissipated almost completely upon waking, however. Akane vaguely recalled watching Ranma's strong hands cup her pale, sleeping face. He had whispered something about a prince charming, maybe? And then kissed her? She wished she could remember it more clearly.

When she arrived at the male monastery for martial arts geometry, Ranma seemed happily surprised to see her up and about so soon. He agreed to pack and leave so they could make their original flight back. But then he decided to be difficult.

Ranma kept interrupting his slow packing to walk over and fidget next to Akane to ask if she really felt strong enough to travel. It pissed Akane off that he was treating her like a weak little girl instead of the strong martial artist she knew herself to be. Yes, she was injured, but Akane was tough. Besides, as far as he knew, she just had a little cold.

When he started comparing her to the other women in his life, Akane finally snapped and threw her backpack at his head. When Ranma's eyes stopped swirling from his position spread-eagled on the floor, he gasped, "Fine, we'll leave. Whatever you want, you psycho tomboy." Then he muttered under his breath, "Sometimes, I don't know what your problem is."

However, Akane noticed that as he picked up the things that had spilled from her thrown pack, he stuffed them into his own backpack instead. Akane thought about calling him on it, but to be honest, the weight of the pack had taxed her sore body during her morning hike. She decided to let him get away with it.

After a few seconds, he began casting little glances at her through his long black lashes. The looks were warm, considering, and made her wonder what he was thinking. If she hadn't felt so poorly, she might have asked. Akane wanted to interpret those glances as affectionate, but if she asked and he started insulting her, she'd lose it again. Better to keep her temper and conserve her energy for the travel ahead.

Of course, before they could leave Ranma had to test her resolve again.

First he had to go and say goodbye to _every single member_ of the monastery. Every time she thought he was finally done, he remembered one more person he just had to see. So he'd sit her back down and make her have a snack.

Unlike their sister temple, the male monks here had no trouble hosting a member of the opposite sex. Just when she thought they'd finally escape, a monk would wander by and want to show off their training to "Ranma's pretty young lady." It didn't matter how often she protested that she wasn't _Ranma's_, they still kept calling her that. Then when she made to get up to find and drag off Ranma, who kept wandering off, another one would rush up to offer her a mug of chilled juice or warm tea that she just had to try. This happened several times over the course of Ranma's goodbyes, which annoyed her even more because then the delays started becoming her fault. However, the freshly squeezed juice really was amazing.

In fact, she secretly admitted that the snacks, drinks, and rests really did make her feel better. Perhaps she wasn't as recovered as she wanted to think. But she was feeling petty and didn't want to admit that to Ranma.

Akane considered it character growth that she could at least now acknowledge that she did such things to be petty. In the past, she wouldn't have had enough self-awareness to realize that about her actions. It didn't mean she had the self-control to step up and be mature about it though. _Character growth takes time_, she justified as she popped another cracker into her mouth and glared at Ranma again for being so slow.

Ranma didn't seem to notice her annoyance, as usual. She'd never seen him this reluctant to leave people he'd only known a day or two before. Akane guessed he just really liked them, or he felt they had saved him from math summer school and wanted to express his undying gratitude. She couldn't think of any other reason for his odd behavior. He wasn't even mouthing off that much to the old men, and Ranma almost always talked disrespectfully to his elders unless they blackmailed or beat on him to force him to speak with respect.

Confused and tired despite the fact that she hadn't done anything but sit around all morning, Akane concealed a yawn and stood up as Ranma finally approached with his pack on his back. Ranma must have _finally_ talked to _everybody_. Akane had eaten so many snacks she couldn't eat a bite more, visited the bathroom twice, and actually napped briefly while Ranma and an old man had the most boring conversation _ever_. She would almost swear they were trying to put her to sleep on purpose. But finally, Ranma declared himself ready to go.

On their way out the door, two exuberant teens hopped by playing some sort of tag involving pretending to have only one leg and kicking things at each other to dodge. One bounced off Akane, yelled sorry, and disappeared through the doorway. The impact on her barely healing side shot a jolt of pain though Akane and whited out the edges of her vision. Feeling shaky, she nevertheless brushed off Ranma's concern and did her best to pretend that she was fine and breathe evenly. She did NOT want to talk about that wound with Ranma. Ever. Akane could tell from the thinning of his lips that he was frustrated with her stubbornness and refusal to admit weakness, but she didn't care. She just wanted to go home.

But then Ranma remembered one more geometry question that might be on the test. So of course they couldn't go until he'd run back to beg for one more kata to help him solve it. Why he didn't remember it during all those long-winded good-byes that lasted all morning she had no idea. Taking Akane's pack, Ranma made her sit back down on the shady veranda on a pillow. During the demonstration, a monk tried to bring her another drink, but Akane refused. She didn't want more snacks, she wanted to leave. Yet somehow Ranma's spotty memory for mathematical equations suddenly became photographic as he reeled off one question and proof after another. As a result, their leaving somehow dragged out for several more hours and past lunch.

Watching Ranma pick up the techniques so quickly and effortlessly only made Akane slightly envious now. In her more rational moments, she recognized how much of a normal life he'd sacrificed for that mastery. As much as she loved the Art, Akane would not wish Ranma's childhood, or his father, on anyone. In fact, she sometimes wished she could go back and protect that pigtailed child from learning so many harsh life lessons so young. She'd suspected for some time now that Ranma's moral compass was a bit skewed because of his unconventional upbringing. Most of the time, you couldn't even tell that he looked at the world just a little to the left from the way that most people did. Despite that, or maybe because of it, Akane admired the good man he had become.

Also, Akane admitted in the privacy of her mind, she'd always appreciated the way Ranma's body strained through mastering a new technique until he integrated it fully. The flexing of his muscles, the glistening drops of sweat, the intensity in his eyes… Ranma sometimes took her breath away. She also liked watching him astonish the other fighters, amazing the crowd with his talent and charisma, and then coming back to her (family's) home at the end of the day. It made something inside her clench with fierce approval when he dominated another warrior with his skill, especially because he was never cruel about it. His quick glances her way to make sure she'd observed his winning also amused and flattered her… most of the time, at least. The rest of the time, he drove her crazy.

But Akane liked Ranma. Secretly, she always liked Ranma. She even liked him when he drove her crazy.

_Like right now_, she sighed to herself.

As Ranma used congruent angles to knock two monks flat onto their backs in the sparring ring, Akane hid her fond smile. Yes, she definitely liked watching Ranma, though usually sneakily from underneath lowered lashes. After all, she didn't want to be caught breathing faster and staring as sweat dripped down Ranma's golden skin and over muscles flexing with tightly controlled power. Sometimes, when tracking a single drop of sweat on the leisurely journey from the nape of his neck down, down to disappear under the low-slung waistband of his pants, she completely forgot to breathe.

If it was only that, she could maybe forgive herself for just being a normal, hot-blooded woman and move on emotionally. But as much as she enjoyed seeing Ranma practicing martial arts, he could evoke the same breathless reaction from her simply by sitting quietly on the veranda with the breeze tousling his hair, or focusing on a textbook next to her at the table while chewing on a yellow #2 pencil. Sometimes the light would hit him just right and suddenly, Akane would forget how to breathe.

Although she tried to hide it even from herself, Akane knew she liked watching Ranma in all of his forms. Somehow, her emotions refused to distinguish between Ranma being male or female or even acting like a cat. It was all Ranma. She'd always known him as all three. For Akane, she couldn't cut out any part of him without sacrificing her desire for the rest.

As she shook off her thoughts and refocused on the current fight, she saw Ranma get knocked down by a snot-nosed kid using a technique that capitalized on an opponent using obtuse angles of attack. As the kid explained how he'd won, Ranma listened intently and kept interrupting to ask more in depth questions.

'_If only he'd spend a tenth of that energy on actually memorizing formulas while in school_,' Akane thought peevishly, '_I wouldn't have to spend so many hours tutoring him at home.' _But then again, if he did that, he either wouldn't be such an amazing martial artist at such a young age, or he would be both incredibly smart AND a great fighter, and then be even _more_ insufferable than he already was. Akane sighed again.

When Ranma was finally, FINALLY ready to go, for real this time, he made them stop one last final time just outside the gate to redistribute the weight in their packs. Akane almost screamed, but she was so anxious to get going that she didn't put up too big of a fight. She didn't want to risk delaying them again.

Plus, she was maybe still a little bit weaker than she wanted to admit. Mariko might have been right that she should have waited another day. Akane didn't see how, but just sitting around waiting for Ranma to finish had tired her out.

She would bite her tongue before admitting that to Ranma though. They said that pride goeth before the fall. Akane just hoped that wasn't literal in her case. Falling down would hurt.

All day she had been expecting Ranma to ask her more details about the kidnapping, but he hadn't. Part of that was probably because he hated acknowledging the loss of control that came with the cat fist. The other part was that Ranma just plain didn't like admitting to weaknesses or talking about feelings. She was just grateful that he was too excited about mastering martial arts geometry, and boasting about how he'd ace his next math test, to question her about it now.

Of course, he was also being unusually free with his compliments towards her and gestures of affection. She noticed him touching her a lot more than usual today, placing a finger on her wrist to get her attention, or a hand on her shoulder as he introduced her to someone new. He also kept saying the nicest things about her to the monks he introduced her to. Akane didn't know what to make of it. She liked it though.

Akane tried to focus on figuring Ranma out instead of on her aches and pains. She knew she'd probably have to get Dr. Tofu to examine the wound in her side at some point, but he was good about not forcing you to say more than you wanted to. Besides Dr. Tofu, she didn't think she'd have to mention her wound to anyone else back home. In fact, she didn't intend to.

As for Ranma, he seemed to think she had gotten sick from sleeping outside in wet clothes or something. She suspected that he felt guilty for not helping them escape and blamed himself for her getting sick, but Akane didn't plan on enlightening him to the full truth. After all, she had initially rescued both of them by herself. Telling Ranma the truth about their near rape, getting her side cut, and the evil necklace wouldn't absolve him of that guilt, so what was the point? Ranma would eventually get over not being the hero for once. The sooner they both forgot about this kidnapping adventure, the better, she reiterated to herself.

They had only been walking for about half an hour when Akane heard a horn honking behind them on the road. Akane jumped, but Ranma didn't seem too surprised. Her side was stinging even though they'd barely walked anywhere. It was making her sweat more than a simple walk could explain. Luckily, Ranma didn't seem to notice.

Waving at the man driving, Ranma jogged forward for a chat. Akane recognized him from the monastery. He'd given her a bowl of stew at lunch. Coincidentally, the driver just happened to be going in their direction. He offered to take them to town at the base of the mountain.

Smiling in thanks, Akane blessed their good fortune and climbed into the truck. The driver explained with a nervous laugh that he needed to buy some potatoes and carrots in town. Akane could have sworn she'd seen a huge garden behind the monastery, and several sacks of potatoes in the kitchen cupboard during those innumerable snacks, but maybe they were the wrong kind of potato or something. The monk started giving her a confusing explanation for what they needed the carrots for when Ranma reached behind her and slapped the driver on the back of the head. The driver broke off with another nervous laugh. He then winked at Ranma.

Akane was too worn out to think about it. She hated being sick. The purr of the engine lulled her eyelids closed and, using Ranma's shoulder as a pillow, she drifted off into sleep. Faintly she felt his arm close around her shoulders, tenderly turning her into the protective curve of his body and tucking her head beneath his chin.

Gentle shaking roused her from slumber. It was difficult, but Akane pried herself away from the warmth of Ranma's body. Wiping her sleep-crusted eyes, she realized that they had arrived in town. She expected Ranma to make some sort of disparaging comment about her energy, but he stayed quiet.

On the way out to the monastery, they had mostly walked once they reached Okinawa. Now though, Ranma insisted they take the train. Akane didn't want to acknowledge her lingering weakness, but she was grateful. Nevertheless, she intended to pull her weight otherwise and not be a burden.

Despite her intentions, Ranma plucked her pack from her hand before she could swing it on and, once they boarded the train, managed to trick her into falling asleep on his shoulder again. Akane managed to stay awake for the flight to Tokyo, but she dozed off again on the train to Nerima. She didn't know why she was sleeping so much (she refused to acknowledge that she'd really been that sick), but her side felt surprisingly better after each nap.

One minute she was staring out the train windows at the Tokyo cityscape and nibbling on an onigiri. She blinked heavily, and then suddenly she was opening her eyes to Ranma carrying her across the familiar rooftops of Nerima at twilight. Akane felt warm and safe in his arms. Ranma's grip tightened minutely around her as he effortlessly leaped a gap between two buildings. Muscles bunched and relaxed beneath her cheek. Inhaling his familiar scent, she smiled sleepily to herself.

Pressed against Ranma like this, she could feel the awesome power he kept harnessed, power suppressed so that his calloused hands, which had fought so many foes, could cradle her gently against his body. Sometimes, when he carried her around so carefully like this, she felt cherished. It was a dangerous feeling to have about Ranma when he wouldn't confirm if he liked her or not.

"I can walk, you know," Akane finally spoke up.

Ranma grinned down at her fondly, "I was wondering how long it would take for you to protest. We're almost there anyways though, so no use stopping now." He jostled her slightly as he jumped down onto a fence railing above the canal, making Akane squeak and press herself more tightly to his chest. She felt a suppressed laugh vibrate from his torso and through her body.

"Jerk," she muttered, "you did that on purpose so I wouldn't try to get down."

"Maybe I like holding you," Ranma answered. His voice teased, but his eyes looked serious. Amazed, Akane pushed against his shoulders and tried to sit up to see his expression more clearly. Grunting, Ranma merely clutched her tighter to his chest until she gave up her struggles and relaxed into his hold.

A few minutes later, they touched down on the front porch of the Tendo dojo. Ranma set her down carefully and stepped back, but he didn't immediately open the door. Instead, he scratched the back of his head sheepishly and stared at his feet. Akane looked up at his face hopefully and waited. Maybe that flirting hadn't just been idle. Maybe he was finally going to tell her he liked her. Ranma's mouth moved silently. He seemed to be struggling to get something out. But the porch remained silent. The shadows grew longer.

As the light disappeared, so too did Akane's optimism. You'd think she'd learn one of these days, but she always let Ranma get her hopes up. '_Idiot_,' she scorned herself. Akane had been here before, many times. She would think Ranma liked her because he acted differently when they were out of town and alone together. Then they'd return home and Ranma would once again insult and ignore her. He'd hang out with other girls and protest the idea of having any affection for her at all.

'_After all, who wanted a slow tomboy as a fiancée and future wife?'_

Depressed, Akane broke first, unable to stomach the thought of any dismissive words from Ranma right now. She had enough insults stored up already, thank you. She well knew her own faults.

As she turned away and moved forward towards door, Ranma reached out to pull her back. "Wait, Akane-," he blurted out. His hand grasped her by the sides to bring her back, and Akane immediately flinched away from his touch. Even though his fingers had only grazed across her wounded side, it burned and throbbed painfully.

"Don't-,"she ordered sharply, but before she could finish her thought, the door opened and Kasumi's head poked out.

"I thought I saw Akane and Ranma jumping over the wall a few minutes ago," Kasumi smiled cheerfully. "Welcome home."

"Akane, you've returned to your poor father!" shouted her Dad, running up to the doorway as buckets of tears burst from his eyes. "Daughter, I missed you!"

Only by ducking behind Kasumi did she avoid a tight and potentially painful hug. The noise pulled Mr. Saotome to the door as well. In the commotion of their return, whatever Ranma might have been about to say to her was lost.

TO BE CONTINUED

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AN: I suddenly pictured Kasumi as the actress who plays Jane in _The Lizzie Bennet Diaries_ (which are awesome).

I will post this before midnight on Friday so I can keep the promise to myself to update a week after the last chapter posted. I have 5 more minutes. It's do-able.

Thanks for your continued support!


	20. Biting, dreams, and rats

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and its characters do not belong to me.

AN: Updates will now be regular and hopefully weekly, or every other week at the most. This fic will most likely be finished in the next couple of months, as my schedule and life have become more flexible with the end of grad school. Thank you for continuing on this long journey with me!

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**No more pussyfooting around**: a Ranma ½ fanfic

By Indygodusk

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**Chapter 20: Biting, dreams, and rats**

_As she turned away and moved forward towards door, Ranma reached out to pull her back. "Wait, Akane-," he blurted out. His hand grasped her by the side to bring her back, and Akane immediately flinched away from his touch. Even though his fingers had only grazed across her wounded side, it burned and throbbed painfully._

"_Don't-,"she ordered sharply, but before she could finish her thought, the door opened and Kasumi's head poked out. _

"_I thought I saw Akane and Ranma jumping over the wall a few minutes ago," Kasumi smiled cheerfully. "Welcome home."_

"_Akane, you've returned to your poor father!" shouted her Dad, running up to the doorway as buckets of tears burst from his eyes. "Daughter, I missed you!" _

_Only by ducking behind Kasumi did she avoid a tight and potentially painful hug. The noise pulled Mr. Saotome to the door as well. In the commotion of their return, whatever Ranma might have been about to say to her was lost._

* * *

After several minutes of joyous family reunion, Kasumi must have noticed the weariness on Akane's face. "You got home later than we expected. You'll have to tell us all about your trip tomorrow, though, since you have to get up early for school tomorrow. Go get cleaned up and go to bed," Kasumi said with a shooing motion.

Akane sent Kasumi a grateful smile. Then she drew upon all of her acting talent and flagging strength to bid her family and Ranma goodnight without letting on about the burning pain in her side as she climbed the stairs. "Night Akane," Ranma said with a strange look on his face, half confused and half guilty. He lingered at the top of the stairs, as if he had something more to add, but Akane didn't have the patience to deal with him anymore tonight.

The pain hadn't seemed that bad during her travels with Ranma, but ever since he'd grabbed at her, she had experienced a renewed throbbing in her side. That, or snuggling up to him all evening had distracted her from her discomfort. "Goodnight, Ranma," she replied as she walked away, not wanting to be completely churlish. Even if she was annoyed with him right now, she didn't want to give up the idea of future snuggling when she felt better.

Finally closing the door to her room, Akane sighed as she allowed her pack to slide off her shoulder to thump against the wall. Then she gingerly drew up her shirt and checked the bandages on her side. It still looked white, so thankfully none of the stitches had popped and bled through. Slipping off her clothes, she drew on her yellow nightgown. She should probably go and brush her teeth, but she just didn't have the energy to walk that far, much less run into anyone and carry on a conversation.

Carefully crawling into bed, Akane pulled up the covers and allowed herself to relax. She was so glad to be home and safe, even if not exactly sound. Worries boiled under the surface of her mind, but she didn't want to deal with that right now. She just wanted to sleep. She'd deal with her problems tomorrow.

Like how to keep Ranma from noticing her wounded side until it was more healed. _Maybe she could…? No, that wouldn't work. What about…? But he'd see through that too. _

_She could just tell Ranma the truth about it… but then he'd flip out and get mad and feel guilty for no reason, and then her family would find out and _they'd_ flip out, and then everyone in town would find out, and people would treat her weird and call her weak, especially Ranma's "girlfriends," and Ranma and her dad would never let her go anywhere or do anything interesting ever again. _

_In fact, Ranma would probably go back to how he'd been when he first moved here, hiding things from her, trying to get her to sit out challenges, and not wanting her help when things got dangerous because he assumed she was just a fragile little girl and couldn't handle it. Like he'd survive half the things he had without her there to help him! Of course, he still sometimes tried to protect her from things, but she felt that he had come to mostly respect her abilities and appreciate her help. Plus, she'd gotten better at seeing through his attempts to "protect" her. _

Huffing in annoyance, Akane reached over and set her alarm clock to get her up early so she could get out of the house before Ranma came down for breakfast. _She just wanted some privacy!_ _Maybe she'd let Ranma think she was mad at him so they could avoid each other for a while. That might work. He always acted like her anger was irrational anyways, so this wouldn't be too surprising. He wouldn't take it personally, and soon she'd be healed up and he'd forget about it. Ranma was good about forgiving like that,_ she thought with a guilty smile.

As Akane finally began to fall asleep, her mind insisted on drifting to earlier that day. She'd started to doze off in her seat during their travels, and her head had gotten so, so heavy, falling forward slowly, until gentle hands that she distantly recognized as Ranma's had effortlessly shifted her body until her cheek rested on his strong chest and his arm firmly circled her back. Akane had been too drowsy to protest. Plus, he'd been really warm and very comfortable. He'd smelled quite nice, all masculine musk and Ranma-y. Then, on the cusp of sleep, she had felt a soft kiss on the crown of her head and his mouth nuzzling against her hair.

But was that last part a daydream, or really a memory? It didn't seem like something he'd do to his un-cute fiancée, but then again, he'd been rather sweet to her the entire time they'd been in Okinawa, even when he'd been a cat. _Like when he'd licked her face_, she thought with a blush and restless shuffle.

_Why couldn't Ranma for once just _sayout loud_ that he liked her?_ Considering his behavior for the past year, and all of the flirting he'd been doing on their trip, it certainly seemed as if he liked her as more than a friend. She wished he would finally admit to having feelings for her. It would make her life so much easier.

Akane would have given him a kiss if he just would have swayed a bit forward towards her lips on the porch. She couldn't make the first move, because then she'd be just like all of the other girls in his life. She had too much pride for that. Besides, Akane didn't want to take a kiss from Ranma, she wanted to share one. If only he'd give her an invitation. But no, he'd just stood there with that strange look on his face, like he was struggling with something. But he hadn't actually said or done _anything_.

As usual, he hadn't been able to man up. _Ranma, _man_ up? Ha._ He was part-girl after all.

Then again, blaming it on his curse was an insult towards women in general. His inability to talk about his feelings was all his own immaturity. Of course, he had been trying to say something right before Kasumi opened the door. But it was probably a plea to not tell anyone that he was unconscious or a cat for most of the trip. _Ranma and his stupid pride._ Punching her pillow in frustration, which was nothing like the warm shoulder of her NOT-fiancé, she rolled over and started counting sheep and piglets until she slipped into sleep.

A few hours later she bolted upright out of a sound sleep, clammy with sweat and gasping raggedly for breath. Ripping up her nightgown, Akane stared at the crisp white bandage wrapped around her waist. With trembling fingers she unwound the cloth until her wound was revealed. The black stitches stood out starkly against the glow of her skin in the moonlight. Running her finger carefully over the crusted slash, Akane forced herself to start breathing regularly as she tried to make sense of the jumbled images from her nightmare. Nothing had clawed open her wound until the stitches hung like an honor guard of small black spiders, and no small, pearl-white shapes had clawed into or out of her flat stomach while she was sleeping.

It had only been a dream.

Flinging her soaked nightgown off and onto the floor, Akane wiped cold sweat off her upper lip and onto her counterpane. Unsteady hands secured the bandages back around her waist. Then, with visible effort, Akane forced herself to lie back down.

Suppressing the hitch in her breath that wanted to escape, Akane reminded herself that Ranma was just down the hall. If she called out, he would come running. She didn't _need_ Ranma to protect her, but if she wanted him to, he would sit by her bedside and crush anything that even looked at her funny. It was a comforting thought.

Nevertheless, she was still unable to settle down. Pursing her lips, Akane bundled up all of the negative emotions, took a deep breath, and tried to blow them away from her with one long exhale. Then she thought very hard about the adorableness of Yuka's new kitten, and how her sprinkles had disintegrated into the ice cream Ranma had bought her in a kaleidoscope of colors. Maybe she'd borrow Yuka's kitten, and then the kitten and Ranma-cat would both curl up on her bed and snuggle her to sleep. Finally able to relax, her breathing evened out naturally and she slipped back into sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Ranma luxuriated in his futon until he heard Kasumi call him for breakfast. He'd had an awesome dream the night before. It was rapidly dissipating in the light of day, but he still vaguely remembered slowly licking Akane's face while they sat in the middle of a hallway. She hadn't hit him for it, either. If only he could remember more of it. A delightful shiver went through him as he lingered on the image. He wished he could remember what her cheek tasted like in the dream. It wasn't like she'd let him check the taste in real life any time soon.

For a moment he considered not going downstairs, and instead trying to chase after the remainder of that fantasy. However there was school today. For his part he didn't really care, but Akane would insist on going. He wouldn't make her go alone. Besides, he needed to make sure she wasn't still mad at him from last night. She'd seemed mad on the porch and had sorta avoided meeting his eyes in the living room afterward.

Besides which, Pops would eat all the food if he didn't go down. He hadn't eaten Kasumi's cooking in days, and he'd missed it. In particular, he was craving fish. He'd kill for some fish. Groaning in defeat, Ranma sat up and stretched. At least they were home. He was so glad to be back in his own territory.

Okinawa had been unsettling. The failure of his plans was discouraging, and his actions, or more like the lack of them, made him frustrated and ashamed. Plus, ever since he'd woken up from the cat fist with Akane so pale and sick sleeping on the bed in front of him, he'd had the strangest feeling, like something was lurking behind his back and glaring at him malevolently. He hadn't even consciously noticed it until the feeling had disappeared on the plane ride and he'd suddenly felt himself relax. He hoped that creepy feeling was gone for good.

As he grabbed his clothes and got dressed, his mind turned again to Akane and the day before. Things had been going well with her, really well despite his uselessness when they'd gotten kidnapped. He'd kept giving in to these overwhelming urges to touch her and hold her close, to take care of her, and she'd barely resisted him at all. They'd even openly flirted with each other as he roof-hopped them home! Sure she'd been really tired and sore still from being sick, but her blushes and small smiles had filled him with warmth.

But then on the porch, she'd turned and looked at him with this heavy weight of expectation in her eyes. Unfortunately, he didn't know just what she was expecting. The porch light had cast shadows on her face and highlighted the perfect round point of her nose. He really liked the shape of Akane's nose. The rest of her body was limned by the yellow porch light. He really liked the shape of Akane's body, too.

Unsure of what to do or say, he'd let his eyes trace down the light highlighting all of Akane's exquisite curves. That proved to be a mistake. Ranma's mind had quickly gone quiet except for an animalistic urge to suddenly do something very inappropriate and very physical with Akane on that porch. The unexpected strength and suddenness of those animalistic urges frightened and excited him in turns.

His control started to slip.

Slowly he clenched and unclenched his fists. A rising part of Ranma wanted to wrench Akane around until her shoulders smacked into his chest and her backside molded flush against his thighs, tangle his hand in her short hair, yank her head to the side until the muscles of her neck trembled, and bite the back of her neck until she stopped struggling and surrendered to him. Finding words to answer her expectant look while simultaneously restraining the eager twitching of his fingers proved impossible. He only had enough energy for one of those tasks, and he regretfully decided that biting was out. So was rubbing his face through each shadowed hollow on Akane's body. There wasn't enough time and that would cause too much trouble right now. Better to concentrate on trying to say something intelligible.

He'd had somewhat physical thoughts about Akane before, but these were much stronger and more vivid than ever. Even knowing all of the hurt that would come down on him from trying anything with Akane, considering the family members waiting just inside those doors, couldn't quite quiet the eager voice describing how amazing she must feel and smell and taste.

_She's waiting for you, expecting you to sweep her off her feet and devour her. This is what Akane wants too,_ his lust cajoled.

_But she doesn't want that_, he told himself sharply. There was no way a good girl like Akane could want or even imagine all of the bad things Ranma fantasized about doing with her. No way would she want him to bite her. The truth of his primitive urges would probably scare her away.

Ranma reminded himself that scaring Akane away would ruin everything, even their friendship. Although he could survive without her love, Ranma couldn't survive without Akane's friendship. He needed her. Akane's presence in his life had become like water, sometimes taken for granted, occasionally annoying and causing him trouble, but always able to quench his thirst, and absolutely necessary for survival.

At this point, Ranma couldn't even picture a happy life without Akane in it in some form or another. Although he refused to ever allow himself to become as weak and, frankly, as useless as Mr. Tendo, Ranma could now understand how he'd gotten that way. Soun Tendo was emotionally unstable because he'd lost the love of his live, his wife and the mother of his children.

Ranma didn't need or want to empathize with Mr. Tendo. But then Jusendo had happened. A few weeks after holding what he thought was Akane's dead body in his arms, he'd looked at Soun Tendo and thought, _oh, that's how someone gets like that._ And after that, he couldn't forget or run away from that understanding.

It was ridiculous.

He resented it, sometimes, this power Akane had over him. He hoped she never found out. Maybe if he'd been raised normally with a happy childhood and loving parents, or if he hadn't met her right after he got his curse, or even if he'd let himself be seduced by Shampoo once or twice, maybe then he wouldn't have this vulnerability. Maybe Akane would never have become his weak spot.

Women had always been a bit confusing and mysterious, to be honest. He hadn't even been that interested in girls until he'd met Akane. He'd interacted with very few girls at all outside of tournaments, and most of the places he and his pops trained at were filled with men. All he'd cared about was the Art.

Someone must surely be laughing at him, because first he'd fallen into that stupid spring which made him turn into a girl, and then he'd moved into a house with three women, been stalked by several more girls who claimed to love him, and found a female best friend in Akane. Then Akane had become something more than just a friend, and he found himself wanting to possess all of her.

Sure, Shampoo's and Kodachi's little seductions were usually embarrassing and terrifying. But later on in the privacy of his own room, they had given him fodder for his fantasies. Of course, they'd really hate to know that it was somehow always Akane who slinked into his dreams and starred in their scenarios. Maybe that was how Kima was able to fool him for a few minutes into thinking she was really Akane.

Ranma found life with Akane exhilarating. He loved how they butted heads and challenged each other in public. Those public challenges sometimes led to secret nighttime fantasies about private challenges where he dominated and she submitted, or where she forced him to bend to her will, and either way they both emerged satisfied. He secretly adored how she acted so protective of him, even though he didn't really need anyone to protect him and hadn't for years. He knew that if she ever accepted his love, she'd protect his heart as fiercely as she protected her friends, pride, and family honor.

Ranma wanted his ring on her finger, his last name in her signature, his pillow smelling of her hair, and the sure knowledge that his heart was safe in her keeping. He wanted her to willingly give him that. He didn't want to take it, or to have marriage forced on her by her family. Force would tarnish such a commitment. He'd dreamed once of Akane introducing herself to someone on the street as a Saotome instead of a Tendo, and it had kept him warm and contented for an entire week. He'd even eaten her cooking with almost a smile. Ranma wanted her willing, and willing for the _right_ reasons.

_If only he could coax Akane into loving him. He knew she cared for him. Maybe he could start his coaxing by seducing her here on the porch? She might not object to just a little nip along that tendon running down the side of her neck…. _

No, he was being stupid. If she knew what he wanted to do to her, she'd bash him in the head with a tanuki statue from the garden and run screaming. He needed to act normal for her and woo her like a normal boy would. If only he could figure out what normal wooing looked like.

Despite his wild thoughts and urges, Ranma stayed in control. He forced his fingers to stay clenched and moved them behind him back, farther away from temptation. He had the discipline to suppress his desires, even if just barely. But maybe one day he could give in to some of them, not all but surely some, if he could just win Akane's love.

Akane herself was passionate and loyal. Sometimes, he thought she felt possessive of him just like he felt possessive of her. They were so close to figuring this relationship out that he could almost taste it.

In fact, Ranma wanted to smell and taste every inch of Akane, even in places that she would be embarrassed about…. maybe especially in those places, because he wanted to imprint everything about her into his memory and her blushes were _gorgeous_. If it was a part of Akane, he _burned_ to know about it. Of course he wanted to know the usual things, like how the taste of her mouth changed from before and after a kiss. He wanted to memorize the scent and feel of her arousal as it pumped her blood faster and harder, examining the effects on the skin both exposed and concealed by her clothes. Ranma wanted the feel of her lips beneath his, her tongue gliding against his own, her moans vibrating against his mouth and chest.

Yes, he wanted that.

But also, and perhaps this part wasn't normal as none of the boys in the locker room ever mentioned such things, Ranma wanted to know the salty difference in taste between a tear trembling on the edge of her jaw and a bead of her sweat. And did that sweat taste different sliding down the back of her thigh or over her temple? What did she smell and taste like just under her breasts, where the sweat gathered from the press of her bra, and did that differ from the scent lingering in the small of her back? Would she let him bury his face in the crook of her neck, between her legs, behind her knee, and just breathe in as deeply as possible to memorize her scent? Would she let him catch her before a bath washed all her secrets away, and run his nose and tongue over all of her hidden nooks and crannies until his curiosity was sated?

It wasn't even sexual, this desire to explore her body. Or rather it was, but not _just_ sexual. Ranma wanted to _know_ everything that made up Akane. He wanted to own that knowledge. He wanted her everything. Maybe, with a lot of luck, she'd want to know him that way too.

Ranma wanted to crush her to his chest and plunder her mouth in a savage kiss, he wanted to run his eyelashes gently down the crest of her cheek and feel her shiver, he wanted to hold her hand without blushing, he wanted to drop to his knees and ask her to marry him, he wanted to hug her tightly and order her to never leave him, he wanted to shout that he loved her, he wanted to tease her until she couldn't breathe for laughing, he wanted to suck a bruise into the side of her neck too high to cover up so all of those stupid boys would know she was his, he wanted to curl a strand of her hair around his fingers and memorize all of the shades, he wanted to kiss the round tip of her nose and catalogue each freckle.

Most secret of all, Ranma wanted to hold Akane tightly, bury his face into the crook of her neck to hide his expression, and beg. He wanted to beg her to accept him as a husband, beg her to protect their children from outside threats and from his own stupid ideas, beg her to never let him become like his father, and no matter how they fought, beg her to keep him forever and always love him no matter his usefulness.

But he couldn't do that. What he wanted to do didn't matter. Now was not the time. Ranma needed to be in control of himself. He needed to think about what Akane needed and what action would get her to react the way he wanted her to. He had to pick the right time and right place. This wasn't it. They were both tired, she was still recovering from her cold, and their families would notice them out here any minute now and interrupt.

Ranma had opened and closed his mouth, trying to find something normal to say, trying to decide what would answer the question on her face that he couldn't quite decipher. But before he could, Akane had gotten mad and turned away from him in a huff. He'd tried to stop her, but she'd jumped away from him and then the door had opened with the family behind it and the moment had been lost.

It had derailed his struggle at least, but he didn't know why she had gotten so mad. Sure, he'd been a little slow to say whatever it was she wanted him to say, though she could have said something herself or given him a clue instead of just waiting there, but suddenly she went from accepting his touch and sending him little smiles during their journey to flinching away in disgust? What had he done wrong? Had she guessed that he'd been thinking of biting her and maybe something more? But no, he'd kept enough control to hide that, he was pretty sure. He hadn't even said anything offensive this time!

If she would have just been a little more patient, he might have gotten himself sorted out and been able to figure out what she wanted him to say. Then again, patient was not a word that ever described Akane. Sometimes, most of the time, Ranma just did not get Akane and her moods.

Shaking his head in frustration, he wiped palms sweaty from his thoughts onto his pants. He should be used to not understanding Akane by now. Hopefully, she'd be over her temper this morning at breakfast. If not, he could always try a vague apology on the way to school and see if that fixed things. Although quick to anger, Akane didn't hold a grudge.

Leaving his room, he padded down the steps, entered the dining room, and sat down at the table. Mr. Tendo and Pops were already eating, while Kasumi sat placidly sipping tea and reading a small book. "Akane still sleeping?" he asked as he stole the last fish from his pops plate and stuffed it into his wide-opened mouth.

_Mmm, fish!_ Quickly he stole the fish off Mr. Tendo's plate while he had his eyes closed during a sip of tea. Normally Ranma only stole from his pop's plate, but this was _fish_. This morning, for some reason, Ranma craved succulent, juicy fish like never before.

Mr. Tendo cleared his throat and put down his rice bowl. "Akane got up early this morning to go into school to…" he floundered for a second as his chopsticks clicked on his empty plate. Blinking in confusion, he finished explaining, "do something. It was early."

Frowning, Ranma swallowed the luscious fish in his mouth, licked his lips, and bit into a glob of rice. Thus fortified, he asked, "You sure you don't remember nothin' 'bout why?" He was surprised she hadn't mentioned last night that she planned on leaving early. He blocked his pop's chopsticks as they attacked his bowl, and opened his mouth to question Kasumi instead.

Before he could start, Mr. Tendo threw back his head and started crying huge tears. "What a bad father I am, not listening to my baby!" he wailed.

"There, there, Father," Kasumi soothed, not even looking up from her teacup.

"And you!" he roared, pointing at Ranma, suddenly looking demonic. "Why did you leave my baby defenseless to walk all by herself to school?"

"Defenseless? Are we talking about the same girl here?" Ranma replied as he cowered from Mr. Tendo's demonic visage.

Mr. Tendo ignored Ranma's words and became hysterical again. "Anything could happen to a pretty young woman like Akane walking all by herself!" he cried as streams of water splashed down his cheeks. Then he turned and shouted, "How could you abandon your future wife like that? Have you no sense of duty? Oh, my poor baby!"

Now in addition to tears, spittle spattered Ranma. It was gross. And wet. If Ranma wasn't careful, he'd turn into a girl soon. Mornings like this sucked. He might sympathize with Mr. Tendo, but that didn't mean he approved of his behavior. Cowering even farther away from the rain of tears, and feeling a small amount of guilt despite knowing that Akane could take care of herself, Ranma was on the verge of fleeing when Kasumi placed a small, pale finger on her father's sleeve.

"Father, you aren't going to cause water damage to the floorboards again, are you? You know how difficult that is to fix with our limited income right now," she said placidly. Mr. Tendo deflated like a popped balloon, sniffled back his tears, and mumbled an apology. Kasumi smiled calmly, took a sip of tea, and then added softly, "I'm sure Akane is fine."

Problem diffused, Ranma allowed himself to creep back to the table and take another bite of rice. Turning to Ranma, Kasumi asked, "Were you planning to linger over breakfast? Did you want Akane's portion, since she left for school early?" One of Kasumi's eyebrows arched. That arch wasn't a question, it was a subtle command.

Ranma flinched, choked on the rice he was swallowing, and began violently coughing as he lurched to his feet. "O-of course not, Kasumi. I'm full, thank you," he answered hoarsely with a nervous laugh. "I'll just hurry and see if I can catch up with Akane."

Ranma had learned to read between her words, and that arched eyebrow meant trouble. He knew an order when he heard one. If he stayed and ate Akane's food, he would regret it.

Even more than anyone else in the house, you did not cross Kasumi. She was sweetness and light 99% of the time. When Ranma accidentally disappointed her, he felt horribly guilty. If that wasn't bad enough, when crossed, her retribution was unexpected, embarrassing, utterly vicious, and almost impossible to trace back to her. You disappointed Kasumi at your own peril. Ranma had learned that lesson _very_ quickly in the Tendo household.

Trotting to his room, he grabbed his school bag. He paused for a moment and felt down his spiritual link to check on Akane. She really could take care of herself, but better safe than sorry since she also had horrible luck. The cord of energy stretching between them told Ranma that Akane was near the school already. She'd probably just passed by the canal, considering the distance between them. Everything he got from her seemed fine.

However, something was different about the connection this morning. It felt slightly muted compared to the last two days. On top of that, there was a faint feeling of… something else. Dropping down into a light meditation, Ranma tried to clarify that feeling. It proved elusive. For a flicker of a second, it almost felt like a predator was crouched just behind him, spying on his check up on Akane and creeping down the cord he'd lashed between the two of them. It was similar to the feeling of being watched he'd had in Okinawa. It made the hair on the back of Ranma's neck stand on end.

Then, between one heartbeat and the next, the feeling disappeared as if it had never been there.

Ranma whipped around and spread out his ki, but felt nothing unusual. Flipping out his window and up onto the roof, Ranma surveyed the Tendo property, but he couldn't find a trace of any spies. He examined the bond, but it felt fine now. Nothing was out of the ordinary. No ominous feelings remained.

Could he have just imagined that feeling? After all, he didn't exactly know what he was doing with this ki bond between the two of them. For all he knew, that feeling might be normal. Ranma could still sense Akane better than he could last week, even if the cord felt slightly weaker than yesterday.

_I'll keep an eye out, but try not to worry about it unless something else happens_, he decided. There wasn't much else he could do. If there were any problems coming, he was confident he could deal with them. But he didn't dare ask anyone any questions, for fear they'd disapprove of the spiritual tie and try to take it away.

Plus, they'd probably have to tell Akane about it to fix it, and he wasn't quite ready for that conversation. So far, he'd avoided speculating about her reaction beyond knowing that she'd be _angry_. He would have to tell her someday, but that would be later when he could control the fallout and had several options for retreating and hiding until her anger passed. As he picked up his backpack, he told himself not to think about it now, shook his worries away, and jumped down into the yard. Slipping into the kitchen to grab his lunchbox silently off the counter, Ranma then jogged off to school.

Winter was fast approaching and the air was nippy. Ranma found it refreshing as he ran along the fence tops. He liked winter. Water falling from the sky _froze _in winter. Snow didn't drench you the way rain would. Summer rain always turned him female, and usually at the most inconvenient times. Sure, he sometimes found being female useful, but only when he got to control the change. Control was important to Ranma. He hated any lack of control or choice. He had enough of that in his life without adding to it.

Ranma let his pace slow a bit as he admired the red-gold clouds reflecting in the water of the canal. He was going to miss walking around Nerima when he graduated and his mom made them move back in with her. He was going to miss a lot of things about living here. Even the thought of living long term without Akane opened a black hole of sucking despair in his mind. But that was at the end of the school year. He still had a while yet to fix that, so no use worrying about it this morning. His Okinawa plan had failed, miserably and embarrassingly, but he would regroup and make a new plan to win Akane. For now, he'd use the Saotome Secret Technique, and let his feelings retreat and regroup until he had a new plan of attack.

Hopping down from the fence, Ranma turned his head at a rustling sound on his left. Two mangy rats were scrabbling over a bit of melon bread in the alleyway. _Dirty, filthy, vile things,_ he thought with a disgusted curl of his lip. Immediately his heart rate increased and his vision sharpened. R_ats are evil,_ screeched something deep in his psyche_. Kill them!_

Loping forward silently, Ranma leapt into the ally, snatched them up in his hands, and casually snapped both of their necks with his thumbs. Their little warm bodies twitched in his hands for almost a minute because of the forced release of neurotransmitters. Vaguely he remembered someone explaining it to him once. Ranma watched detachedly until they stopped twitching. He had to make sure they were dead. Part of him wished there were more rats around to kill.

One rat in particular needed to die. Ranma hadn't seen it yet, but he would recognize _that rat_ when he did. Then he'd kill it and his duty would be complete. Throwing the now limp bodies into a trashcan, he brushed his hands off on his thighs and continued his walk. The sky this morning really was beautiful.

_Was that weird?_ Ranma asked himself softly as he absently dodged a puddle on the sidewalk. _Nah, don't worry about it,_ that same voice from down deep purred. _Rats are our enemy. It's our duty to kill 'em. _So appeased, Ranma continued on his way to school.

A few minutes later, he came up behind a group of students on the narrow lane. Ranma decided to just enjoy the walk instead of pushing his way through or jumping around them. Akane was fine and it was a nice morning. He should concentrate on enjoying the now and let the future take care of itself for a while.

Directly in front of him strolled a snuggling couple. The girl was suctioned onto the guys arm like a barnacle. He'd probably have to scrape her off once they got to class, Ranma thought with a snort.

Although Ranma wanted Akane's love, he couldn't ever see himself enjoying her clinging to his arm and acting like that. A high-pitched giggle made him wince. Thank goodness Akane had too much self-respect for that. If Akane ever acted like the girl up there, Ranma would check her for potions and curses.

It took him a few minutes, but he finally figured out how he knew the couple. Ranma couldn't remember the guy's name, just that he played some sport but didn't do martial arts or have any classes with Ranma since Literature last year, and wasn't worth Ranma's time. The girl was named Miaka something.

Akane sometimes got a sad look on her face when she saw the girl, but Ranma had never gotten her to explain why except that they used to be friends a long time ago. It was enough to make him avoid Miaka. Anyone who would stop being friends with Akane, and who made Akane _sad_ instead of mad, had to be selfish and heartless. If she'd been a guy, he'd probably have picked a fight with her a long time ago just for the satisfaction of punching her in the face for making Akane feel that way.

After a minute or two, another group of students joined the front of the group, and he saw the guy tilt his head and blatantly check out the legs of the girl walking in front of him. Admittedly, she had a very short skirt and very nice legs, if a bit skinny and lacking muscle tone. But even Ranma knew it was poor taste to do something like that with a girl on your arm. Miaka obviously saw him do it too, because Ranma saw her flinch as if she'd been slapped and start to pull away. However, instead of hitting him like Ranma expected, she just firmed her lips, squeezed herself more tightly against his side, and tried to whisper something in his ear.

"Sure, Baby, sure," the guy said absently. But he didn't lift his gaze from his ogling.

_What a sleezeball,_ Ranma thought. Miaka's face got more and more desperate and despairing as they walked, until finally Ranma couldn't take it anymore. Miaka had once been Akane's friend, after all, and he hated seeing a girl in distress.

Pity had him kicking a rock at the bottom of the boyfriend's feet to make him stumble just long enough for Ranma to maneuver himself in front of them. Then he slowed down his pace, allowing a trio of boys to crowd in from a side ally. Now there were at least four bodies to block the guy's view. Hopefully, that Miaka chick wised up soon and dumped the jerk.

When he reached the school, Ranma forgot Miaka and her problems, and started looking around for Akane. She wasn't in any of the usual places, but it didn't worry him too much. The connection between them let him know she was here, but it had gone all vague and refused to be specific again. When he tried to concentrate on it, he started to get the feeling that someone was calling him nosy, which was ridiculous. He'd almost swear their connection had a mind of its own now or something, with the way it was behaving. It was definitely stronger but at the same time more capricious. Ranma sighed, but reminded himself that Akane knew how to take care of herself. They should be more worried about the state of any idiot who'd think to bother Akane instead of the other way around.

Although she still hadn't achieved the level of someone like Shampoo, Akane's fighting skills had improved tremendously since he'd first met her. Considering how Ukyo had let some of her training lapse as the business side of her okonomiyaki restaurant chain expanded, he had a suspicion that Akane could now take her as long as she didn't lose her temper. Considering the divine taste of Ukyo's food though, Ranma thought it might be a fair trade, especially if Ukyo kept giving him free samples. The Kuno siblings had been outmatched by Akane for at least a year too. Any run of the mill bully or burglar would become pulp beneath Akane's fist.

It was only the dangerous martial artists and monsters that Ranma attracted that Akane needed to worry about. That jerk Pantyhose Tarou could definitely beat her. She also still couldn't take someone like Ryoga, but the Lost Boy would sooner pull out his canines with pliers than fight with Akane and risk physically hurting her.

Of course, when she found out that Ryoga was P-chan, she probably would pull out his canines with pliers. Akane would be emotionally crushed too. Ranma really hoped he was far away when that happened, because as soon as she got over being hurt, she put so much hurt on both him and Ryoga that they'd be feeling it for years.

As he walked up the path outside the building, Ranma let his gaze drift aimlessly across the school front until it snagged on a second floor window. The face inside instantly snapped into focus. He'd found Akane. She was talking to someone out of sight from this angle. Rays of the rising sun brought out tawny highlights in her dark hair and gilded her profile. Feeling like he'd been kicked in the chest by a mule, or even worse, punched by Ryoga, Ranma suddenly couldn't move or even breathe. He could only stop and stare and _want_.

Then Akane glanced out the window. Their eyes met like a key sliding into a lock. Ranma felt like he teetered on the edge of a precipice, and that if he didn't touch her right this second he might explode. But before he could coil his muscles for a leap, the cord between them unfurled strong and solid without his reaching for it, saturating him with the warm essence of Akane and pulling him barely back to self-control.

As he watched, Akane's rosy lips parted and drew in a quick gasp of air. Pink bloomed in her cheeks like a flower opening to the dawn and he would swear he saw her eyes dilate. Then she jerked as if someone had touched her arm, looked down, and moved away from the window. The energy flowing between them cut off as soon as she disappeared.

Ranma felt like a puppet with cut strings. Moving over to lean against a tree, he closed his eyes and drew in several shaky breaths as he tried to calm down. When had his control gotten so weak? Why were these urges suddenly so strong? Did going to Okinawa change something?

He needed to keep himself disciplined or someone could get hurt. Not to mention that if he wasn't careful, Akane would find out about the dark places lurking in his mind. She wouldn't like what she found there.

Akane could never know how he thought about biting the back of her neck, not letting go until she stopped bucking and kicking and went limp and languid beneath his body. She could never know how he wanted her to let him bite her somewhere, somewhere she chose so she could see it too, just hard enough to break the skin and make a scar, so they could both look at it anytime they liked and know that she would carry his mark forever. He wanted her to bite him back, hard and maybe a little vicious, on the inside of his left wrist closest to his heart where the blood flowed strongest, so he could rub his fingers over the scar any time he liked, feel the pulse of blood beneath it, and think of her.

Akane would be shocked and disgusted.

Today, he was finding it difficult to care.

Ranma forced himself to focus on breathing for 60 seconds, _in and out… tick… tock… in and out… tick… tock,_ until he finally felt in control again and confident that he wasn't about to do anything drastic, like go bounding up the side of the building to pounce on Akane. Nevertheless, he made a mental note to avoid her for a few days until he got himself more under control and figured out what the heck was going on. Maybe he just needed to meditate more to settle himself after being in the cat fist so long. He'd add an hour of meditation to his schedule for the next week.

Ranma stepped away from the tree and made his way inside the building and over to his locker. After storing his bento and several books, he heard someone hiss, "Psst, Ranma!" Looking over his shoulder, he saw Hiroshi and Daisuke gesturing down the hall.

Curious, he closed the locker door and joined his friends. Looking at where they were pointing, Ranma had to blink and rub at his eyes. Gosunkugi was walking down the hall hand in hand with a girl he'd never seen before. She was cute too, with long legs, large eyes, and long, wavy brown hair topped by two black bows. Admittedly she had a strange tattoo on her forehead mostly hidden by her bangs, but that didn't detract from her attractiveness. The contrast with Gosunkugi's stooped shoulders, sallow skin, and sunken eyes was almost comical.

As they watched, the girl reached up and untangled a bit of dried white wax from the hair above his ear and then kissed him on the cheek adoringly. The wax must have come from the candles he wore on a headband when he was trying to cast hexes on people. Was there any way that girl could know where that wax came from and not want to run away screaming?

"How did that happen?" Hiroshi asked in shock. "How did Gosunkugi of all people get a girl like that? It has to be magic, no way a girl would be with him otherwise while we're still single." He ignored Ranma's snort and continued, "One of those crazy spells of his must have finally worked."

Daisuke asked, "Could he cast one for us do you think?"

"Don't be an idiot," Ranma said as he rolled his eyes.

"Who do you think she is?" added Daisuke, refusing to be deterred. "Well Ranma, you must know 'er. What's her name? Can you introduce us when she dumps Gosunkugi?"

Folding his arms behind his head and leaning back against the bank of lockers, Ranma examined the couple. "I dunno who she is," he answered, "why do you think I would?"

Hiroshi sighed and slapped Ranma on the shoulder, "Because all of the girls know you, man. They either want to kiss you or kill you. Everybody knows that."

Daisuke nodded his head in agreement.

"But if you steal the affections of a girl who looks like _that_, and is willing to give Gosunkugi the time of day, you'd better watch out for curses. Especially since it looks like his magic works now," Hiroshi warned. "Though I'll take her off your hands after that," he added with an expansive gesture. "You don't need more difficult women."

"Yes, I'd like to get my hands on her myself," Daisuke leered and both boys laughed lecherously.

Ranma rolled his eyes again and slapped both guys on the back of the head, though not as hard as they probably deserved. "Shut up, I don't know her and I don't want to know her," Ranma protested. "Sure the whole thing looks weird, but Gosunkugi can keep her. I don't plan on getting involved."

Hiroshi just snorted, "Whatever you say, man, whatever you say."

Of course, before the week was out, Ranma had to eat his words.

TO BE CONTINUED

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AN: Please leave me a review to let me know you are still interested in this story. Thanks! I already have the next chapter written. I just need to add one small scene and edit it, so it should be up in a week.


	21. Death threats and blue water

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and its characters do not belong to me.

AN: Thanks for the great responses cheering me on! I'm glad people are still interested. Here is the next chapter, and 1 day early too!

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**No more pussyfooting around**: a Ranma ½ fanfic

By Indygodusk

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**Chapter 21: Death threats and blue water**

_Ranma rolled his eyes and slapped both guys on the back of the head, though not as hard as they probably deserved. "Shut up, I don't know her and I don't want to know her," Ranma protested. "Sure the whole thing looks weird, but Gosunkugi can keep her. I don't plan on getting involved."_

_Hiroshi just snorted, "Whatever you say, man, whatever you say."_

_Of course, before the week was out, Ranma had to eat his words. _

For the first few days, Ranma paid no attention to the weird rumors of mysteriously drained students that started surfacing at school. Furinkan High was a weird place with weird people, and Hinako-Sensei did like to drain naughty students. It's not like weird rumors were _unusual_.

Besides, he kept getting distracted by other things.

Whatever he'd done by delving into the cat fist had altered something in his mind. After three days of intense training and meditation, he still only roughly understood the differences. When he forced his thoughts to quiet and sank into a basic, animalistic clarity, he found that his senses became more acute and his strength increased. His reaction times in his boy form matched the speed of his female form, and his female form was off the charts of anything he'd ever achieved before.

It was amazing!

Of course, when he allowed himself to become more animalistic, he also found himself doing strange things, like chasing away stray animals from around the dojo, absently scratching gouges above the window of Akane's room (luckily she'd been gone at the time), and contemplating some permanent solutions to his problems (the kind of permanent that required a body bag… if they could find enough pieces to fill one). Things seemed so much more black and white when he let that part of his mind out to play. Unfortunately, Ranma had figured out that he wasn't always noticing the shift in thinking. He'd begun to suspect that he was allowing the cat fist part of his mind to influence his thoughts and actions much more than he'd intended to. He wasn't sure what or who he'd be when he finally reached equilibrium.

It was disturbing.

Ranma had spent his entire life disciplining his capacity for violence. He was comfortable with it and trusted himself to respond with just enough force, but not too much. He'd tamped down the strange urges as much as he could, but in the back of his mind he knew: there was no going back. Somehow, Ranma needed to come to grips with this. He would take the physical improvements, especially since he didn't have any idea on how to stop it, but he refused to compromise his personal code of honor along the way.

With this weighing on his mind, it took him until Thursday to notice something was off at school. Ranma was walking down the hall with Akane and her friend Yuka, lazily discussing the newest fashion statement made by the principle. Both girls were laughing, which filled Ranma with smug contentment.

Akane's friendship, when he bothered to think about it instead of just taking it and her for granted, was not only a comfort, it was fun. He loved teasing her, and had gotten better lately at getting her riled up without hurting her feelings. Even though any romance between them had stalled, and they had barely seen each other in the few days since their return from Okinawa, simple moments like this made him happy.

Suddenly, Ranma heard a female voice shout from behind, "Ranma Saotome, you vile oppressor of the innocent! Die!" The most surprising thing about the shout wasn't the insult, it was that he didn't recognize the voice. He hadn't pissed anyone off lately that he knew of.

Also, the words were pretty standard fare, to be honest. He'd heard better death threats. So it was with a slightly lackadaisical attitude that he reacted. He'd barely started to even swing around when he glimpsed Gosunkugi's new girlfriend. She was glaring at him, with her forehead tattoo glowing an eerie purple and her two bows surging straight towards his neck!

Before he could dodge (which he totally would have), Akane grabbed his shirt and slammed him hard against the wall with a _bang_! This pulled Ranma barely out of the path of the razor-sharp bows, which sliced through a classroom door, four feet of wall, and a cubist painting of a pineapple. "Thanks," he gasped, since the wind had been knocked out of him.

As there were stunned students eating lunch in the classroom behind the broken door, and several blasé students who just kept on eating and ignored the usual chaos, Ranma decided to get the crazy girl outside and away from potential victims. He had lots of practice with this sort of thing. Death threats were always fun to deal with. Plus, it looked like she might be someone new and interesting to fight with. The day was looking up.

Hopping over to the nearest window, he pried it open and called back over his shoulder, "Hey psycho chick, you're going to have to try harder than that to kill me!" Then he leaped down to the ground below with a smile, ignoring Akane's exasperated, "Honestly, Ranma!"

The girl only paused briefly before jumping up onto the windowsill, leaping over to a nearby tree, and shimmying down the trunk. Tossing her brown hair back over her shoulder and straightening her bows, the girl stalked towards Ranma with an angry growl. "After all you've done to my Gosu-chan, how dare you run from your well-deserved death!"

"Gosu-chan? Wait, are you talking about Gosunkugi? What did I ever do to him?" Ranma asked with a bit of confusion. Scratching his head, he couldn't really think of anything except scaring the kid once in a while when he tried some scheme to get Ranma away from Akane. The guy was delusional though, if he thought Akane would date him even if Ranma was out of the picture.

Her bows snapped out ahead of her body as she quivered with rage. "Like you don't know!" she shrieked. "Crushing his poor heart, stomping on his dreams, keeping him from living the life he deserves. Saotome, it is _all_ _your fault_. For that, I will punish you as you deserve!"

Rolling his eyes, Ranma bounced on his toes and prepared to probe her martial defenses. He could use a good fight, even if it was over something that wasn't his fault, as usual. As her bows shot towards his chest, Ranma flipped back, twisted, and then cartwheeled to the side in a capoeira move he'd been dying to use ever since he'd learned it last month.

The bows missed by several feet and embedded into the ground. They quivered for a second and then snapped back to hover around her face threateningly. She growled and the light from her forehead tattoo became brighter. He didn't find it very menacing, to be honest. Ranma was thinking that he might have to pretend to twist his ankle or something to make the fight interesting.

"If I'd let him do what he wanted, he'd be trying to date Akane instead of you. Don't tell me you wanna see your Gosu-chan panting after Akane?" Ranma threw out. In his experience, jealousy was a sure-fire way to push a woman off-guard.

But she didn't react the way he expected.

Instead of flying into a jealous rage and blindly attacking, she absently ran her finger back and forth at the base of her throat and smiled. It wasn't a very nice smile, more of a smirk. "Obviously Akane has already been taken and claimed by another," she said dismissively. "She won't be a problem for very much longer with _that_ fate hanging over her head and tying her down. Can't you see the mark looped around her Ki?"

Ranma's enjoyment disappeared into ashes as he glanced across the courtyard at where Akane was emerging from a stairwell with several other students. Akane looked the same as usual to Ranma. He hadn't noticed any mark, and he now had a spiritual tie with her. Wouldn't he notice something like that, even if he was just barely figuring this thing out? Turning back to his opponent, Ranma tried to think of a reply when she started to giggle cruelly.

"You can't see it, can you? You cling to Akane so tightly, and in the process push her further into his arms, making it easier for him to find and take her, making it easier for them to grow. Poor, poor Ranma," she cooed with patently false sympathy.

Who was this girl? And what did she know about Akane? Or was she just making it up, trying to rattle him by using Akane's name? Suppressing the urge, which felt natural but should feel unusual, to shut her up with a clawing Ki strike to her stupid giggling face, Ranma took a deep breath.

He needed to know more. Ranma opened his mouth to throw an insult at her precious Gosu-chan, maybe get her to say something useful. But then a quavering little voice called, "S-s-snookums? There you are. It's lunchtime."

Immediately the cruel glint disappeared from her eyes, the razor bows of death fell limply back into her hair, and an innocent pink blush suffused her cheeks. "Gosu-chan!" she cried in a sweet, high voice, turning from Ranma and running to the hollow-cheeked Gosunkugi standing in the doorway to the school. Threading her arm with his, she snuggled her cheek against his shoulder (though she had to bend down a bit as he was shorter). "I made you a super special bento for lunch. I put it in my locker. Let's go and eat it together," she gushed.

Deflated, Ranma let his arms go limp. "I'm not done with you. Are we gonna fight or what?" he called with frustration as they disappeared back into the school.

"Doesn't look like it," answered Akane. "Might as well have lunch and figure it out later." She and Yuka were already eating onigiri. Yuka shrugged philosophically and stuck a straw into her juice box.

At Ranma's sharp, probing look up and down Akane's body, which included mental fingers tracing briefly along her Ki, Akane shivered, blushed a beguiling pink, and then gave Ranma a confused glare. _So cute,_ he thought privately. Still not noticing anything like a mark or loop, Ranma backed off, told himself that a cute blush did not mean she would allow him to rub his face back and forth against her stomach or rest his cheek on her thigh, and sent Akane an innocent look before turning away to scan the courtyard.

That girl must have just been winding him up after all. She probably just didn't want to think that her boyfriend really had a thing for Akane. Jealousy did make girls do and say crazy things. That's all it was. Probably. He'd keep an eye on things just in case though.

Next to them were a few other students who'd followed Ranma down looking for a show. Most of them had given up and started eating their own lunches. His friend Hiroshi was sucking on a juice box. "I wonder what Gosunkugi does to inspire devotion like _that_ from a girl who looks like that?" Hiroshi asked longingly.

"A girl who looks and acts psycho?" Akane asked disgustedly.

"She's not psycho, she'd just confused!" defended Daisuke. "We need to save her from Gosunkugi's bad influence. I am willing to comfort her in these arms," he declared with an expansive hand gesture. Then he hesitated, glanced up at the second floor where she'd sliced through a wall, and added with a nervous laugh, "After Ranma makes sure she's not homicidal anymore, of course."

Ranma stole an onigiri from Daisuke's bento during his speech and, after swallowing, said, "There's definitely something strange about her. We should look into it before someone really does get hurt."

_Besides, _Ranma thought,_ you need to make sure she doesn't know what she's talking about with Akane. It'll also be a good distraction from the cat fist and your problems. Plus, new opponent to fight, even if she is a girl. Could be fun! _

"Well," said Akane, "she's sure to attack you again later. They always do. You might as well eat lunch while you can."

Shrugging away his tension, Ranma agreed to worry about it later. As he thought about stealing another onigiri from Daisuke's bento, the boy seemed to sense his thoughts and pulled his lunch to his chest protectively, glaring. Ranma scanned the quad for any other free food. Ever since Ukyo had stopped going to school to concentrate on her business, free lunches had been a lot scarcer.

Then he heard Akane's friend Yuka hiss, "Just take the pill!"

Quickly turning back, Ranma watched with confusion as Akane averted her eyes. "I'm fine," Akane mumbled.

Yuka sighed in exasperation. "If they were just normal cramps, you wouldn't keep flinching and touching your side like that. I'm sick of watching you suffer. Just take it!"

Ranma wasn't sure what they were talking about, but he hadn't seen much of Akane in the last few days. "What's wrong, Akane?" he asked with narrowed eyes. _Had that crazy girl managed to hurt her after all?_ His vision sharpened and colors became strangely flat, but Ranma barely noticed beneath the urge to either chase after that girl and rip out her throat with his teeth, or pull Akane close and lick her until she felt better.

"Nothing's wrong," Akane denied belligerently.

"Ha!" Yuka replied, "Then why do you keep favoring your side! I saw you massaging it just a second ago. Remember when you berated me last month to stop constantly moaning and just take something? When you said you didn't want to hear it anymore? Well, it's payback time."

Akane glared at Yuka. Then she looked at Ranma from the corner of her eye, twitched, and turned red. "Fine! I'll take the stupid pill, you harpy. And I was grabbing my side because I have bad _cramps_, Ranma." Looking away from his eyes, Akane finished, "There's no other reason why my side would be hurting, so leave me alone."

Obviously it wasn't what he thought, so Ranma relaxed and let his vision return to normal. But… "What kind of cramps? Did ya eat your own cooking again? You know that stuff is poisonous, right?"

Akane's fist clenched and swung up towards his face, freezing six inches from his cheek before slowly lowering back to her side with what looked like a supreme amount of effort. He was extremely impressed by her self-control. Usually he was guaranteed a blast-off when he mentioned her cooking, though he'd only been speaking the honest truth, not trying to hurt her feelings.

"You are such a jerk, Ranma," Yuka said with rolled eyes as she opened a piece of silver foil and placed a pill into Akane's hand. "A woman having cramps? You're a girl sometimes, get a clue and have a little sympathy."

"I'm not a girl, I'm a guy," Ranma said in knee-jerk response. Then he blinked, scratched his head, and asked, "And what do cramps have to do with being a girl?"

Both Akane and Yuka turned to look at him with incredulity. "You do know what a period is, right Ranma?" Akane asked carefully.

"Of course I do," Ranma scoffed. "Once a month girls use these pad things and drink blue water while doing stuff like horseback riding and mountain climbing and roller-skating. I've seen the ads."

Akane, Yuka, Hiroshi, and Daisuke all stared at him in silence for a moment. Then Yuka snorted, met Akane's eyes, and they both started giggling. A second later Hiroshi and Daisuke fell down onto the ground and rolled around laughing hysterically.

"It wasn't that funny, guys," Ranma huffed.

Akane squeaked out, "horseback riding!" and everyone started cackling even louder.

"Seriously, you're being jerks," Ranma gritted out. "What did I say?"

Everyone had almost calmed down when Yuka gasped, "blue water," and then they all started hooting all over again. Offended, Ranma stalked off to get his own lunch from his locker and sulk. Then maybe he'd look into Gosunkugi's new girlfriend, since everyone else was too busy acting stupid to see that she was still a problem.

He wasn't able to find the couple before the bell rang for the next period. However, he did hear two girls talking about another student ending up in the nurse's office with all her energy drained, even though Ms. Hinako was seen just minutes later still a child. However he had to wait until after school to look into it. He fidgeted though his classes until the final bell rang.

At first he tried to find Gosunkugi, but had no luck. In the hall he finally asked a classmate if they knew where to find him, but the boy said that he'd left after lunch and skipped the rest of the day. Frustrated but not defeated, Ranma went to his locker to stash his books.

Then he detoured over to the nurse's office to ask a few questions about the drained student. Before going inside, he stopped by the bathroom to splash himself with cold water. People always talked more to girls than to guys.

Now a she, Ranko walked as demurely as possible into the nurse's office. "Excuse me," Ranko said in a cutesy voice. "I heard another female student was sick today and wanted to check on her." Putting her hands to her cheeks she gasped, "I was so worried."

"Oh she's fine, don't you worry any dear," the nurse replied unhelpfully. "Ranko Saotome, isn't it?"

"Yes, I was just wondering-," Ranko said hesitantly, calling on all her acting talent, but before she could say anything else the nurse interrupted her.

"Now don't feel bad," the nurse said as she put an arm around Ranko's shoulders and steered her back behind the privacy curtain. "You aren't the only late bloomer I've ever seen. Your friend stopped by about something else earlier, and mentioned it to me. Let's just have a little chat, shall we?" Then the nurse closed the curtain.

Fifteen minutes later, a pale and shaken Ranko Saotome stumbled out from the nurse's office hastily. "No, no, no more diagrams! That's enough information for now, thanks," she gasped. "I don't need any free samples."

Then the redhead ran into the men's restroom, cranked on the hot water, and stuck her head under the spout. Red hair turned black, breasts shrunk into pectoral muscles, and Ranma's limbs got longer. Bracing himself on the sink, Ranma chanted, "I'm a guy, I'm a guy, I'm a guy."

"You had breasts a minute ago," said the guy peeing at the urinal. "Nice ones."

"Shut it or I'll make ya," Ranma threatened fiercely without looking away from his reflection in the mirror. A hurried zip, whimper, and a few seconds later the boy scuttled out the door. The bathroom was now empty.

The horrors of Ranma's curse were increasing. To think that he might actually bleed... down there. What if he got stuck as a girl again? How long did he need to be in girl form for it to happen? It hadn't yet, but it _could_.

Somehow Ranma had remained ignorant of this until now. His pops had never mentioned it, and they'd usually trained with men. The few women he'd interacted with over the years had never explained it to him either. Somehow he hadn't noticed, had misunderstood, or had dismissed any clues about it as irrelevant. He wished he was still ignorant.

How did girls deal with it? How did Akane? He'd never even noticed her freakin' _bleeding_ once a month! It was crazy! His respect for women increased exponentially. So did his disgust at ever being one.

But still. Women. You had to give them props.

Shaking the last of the water droplets from his hair, Ranma decided to go looking for Ryoga, or Mousse if Ryoga was lost far away somewhere, to see if they wanted to spar. Ranma needed to do something manly right now, like fighting, grunting, and bleeding from getting hit too hard and _for no other reason_, and maybe a bit of spitting and crotch scratching too.

But first, he was going to go act like a man and pee standing up.

* * *

During dinner, Akane noticed that Ranma was sporting a new cut on his left cheek. She was concerned, but if she asked he'd know she cared, and then her family would make a big deal about it, and she'd get embarrassed and mad and… and she was being stupid. _Stop your bad habits,_ she scolded herself.

Akane had snuck into Kasumi's room yesterday and borrowed one of her books on how to trust your strengths and minimize your fears. The first chapter was on emotional honesty and questioning instinctive reactions. Akane had shamefully recognized herself in a lot of the negative habits the book described.

"Ranma, what happened," she asked, forcing herself to be brave and openly show that she was worried that Gosunkugi's crazy girlfriend had caught up to him again.

"What, this?" he asked, touching his cheek. "Oh, I got Ryoga andMousse to meet me after school for a spar. It was fun, though Mousse needs to learn to hit harder. Still, it was all very manly," he finished nonsensically.

_What a jerk!_ Here she'd been trying to be all emotionally honest, and her worry was for nothing. He'd gotten hurt fighting both of those guys at once even though he knew how dangerous they were. It was taking a lot of self-control to keep from punching him in the side. "Stupid," she scolded, "what if you'd gotten hurt and then been cornered by that psycho girl from school?"

Ranma huffed in annoyance. "I didn't get hurt and I _wouldn't_ because I'm a better fighter than they are. Besides, if that girl shows up I'd defeat her too. I'm a martial artist, remember? Don't worry so much, Akane."

Scowling, Akane brought her bowl up and stuffed a chunk of rice into her mouth to keep from saying something mean. Meaner than stupid, that is, because he was being an idiot. But part of keeping her temper and becoming more emotionally honest was trying not to argue with him as much.

You would think he'd appreciate her efforts to protect him enough to keep himself uninjured for the few hours they were apart. _Was that so much to ask?_ Or at least let her know he was going to be fighting so she could watch his back just in case. Not that she was or would have been really worried. But she had proven that she took his safety seriously, and she didn't want him undoing her save from this afternoon.

After all, yanking him out of the way of that brutal bow attack had given Akane a deep throbbing ache in her side. She had been afraid that she'd torn her stitches. They hadn't, but there were a few spots of blood on the bandage when she'd checked later. It had made her slower to get outside than usual, so by the time she got there the talking was pretty much over and the other girl had disappeared.

Luckily Yuka had assumed Akane was having menstrual cramps, and everyone had accepted the explanation. Though it was embarrassing to have everyone think she was on her period. _Ranma's explanation had been hilarious, _Akane remembered with a private giggle.

Akane had stopped by the school nurse later that day to ask the nurse's advice about getting certified in first aid. Akane thought being certified would be a good selling point for the dojo and her classes. She felt pretty confident that she already knew what to do to treat an injury, considering how many injuries she'd had or treated in her time, but official certification was important to some people. Nabiki kept reminding Akane of that, trying to push her in a more business-minded direction.

While at the nurse's office, Akane had tried to pick Ranma up a pamphlet on having a period, since he obviously needed to know about it since he did turn into a girl occasionally. Talking about it with him seemed too embarrassing (even if that was cowardly). Unfortunately, the nurse didn't have any pamphlets on that topic, since most girls had started years before high school.

Later that night, Akane gathered up her gumption and approached Ranma while they were working on their homework. "Hey Ranma?"

"Yeah, whaddaya want?" he asked absently, flipping a page and running his finger down a row of figures.

Akane took a deep breath and decided to come at it from a round-about approach. "Well, I went to talk to the school nurse today and…," she paused, trying to think of how to word what she wanted to say. But before she could come up with something clever, Ranma interrupted her.

"That was you who told her about the girl thing? Who else did you tell?!" Ranma demanded with a fierce blush and scowl.

"No one," Akane defended with annoyance. "I had to ask her something about a certificate and wanted to also see if she had a pamphlet or something. It came up then, that's all," she huffed. "I was trying to help you."

"That's all," Ranma shouted, "do ya know what I had to listen to?!" Then he glanced around for listeners, leaned forward, and whispered, "A lecture on being a girl and _bleeding_! It was _horrible_!"

Sitting back, Akane sighed in relief. _What luck! Now I don't have to explain it. _"Well," she placated, "you needed to know, since most girls go through it every month, and you are often a girl. It was either her or me… or maybe one of my sisters," she threatened.

Ranma grimaced in distaste at the mention of either Kasumi or Nabiki trying to explain having a period. It looked like just imagining it made him nauseous and twitchy. Akane suppressed a laugh at his expense. He probably wouldn't buy that she was laughing with him and not at him.

"Well, if you have any questions, you can ask me," she offered generously, secure in the knowledge that he probably never would. "Otherwise, we don't ever have to talk about it again."

"Whatever," Ranma grumbled, turning back to his textbook. Though Akane noticed that it took several minutes for the tips of his ears to stop being red.

* * *

That night, Ranma expected to have nightmares about being stuck as a girl, getting a period, and maybe drowning in blue water. To his very pleasant surprise, instead he had another nice dream about snuggling up to Akane (though he was acting like a cat at the time again, but whatever.) She had let him doze up against her side while she absently carded her fingers through his hair. Ranma sleepily decided that Akane had the best fingers ever.

Of course, Friday morning proved to once again be troublesome. Before school even started, Ranma was accosted by a group of geeks from the Dungeons and Dragons club.

_To be continued_

* * *

AN: For those wondering, this was not the chapter on sex Ed alluded to in the story description. This is more to set that up a bit. It is coming though! During editing, I had to admit that Ranma's explanation of a period was influenced by the "Bodyform: The Truth" video facebook response to a man questioning their presentation of period facts. If you haven't seen it, you should check it out. Then let me know what you think!

Also, for all those who mention it,I tend to do a _lot_ of introspection, I know I know, but I'm trying to include more dialog and action too. One of my original goals with this story was to improve my writing so I'm not just doing introspection all the time. Though I do really like introspection, and always will. I do appreciate your constructive criticism though. I also had a reviewer call me on jumping the shark with Ranma's dialog in the chapter where he wakes Akane up (you know who you are). After thinking about it for a while, I have to concede with a squirm of embarrassment that my writing did get away from me a bit. So I'll go back and edit it at some point, and then let everyone know. For now though, I'm trying to focus on creating new stuff.

Thanks again for your comments and encouragement!


	22. Chipmunks and Threats

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and its characters do not belong to me.

AN: Sorry, I got writers block for filling out this section for a while. Also, the polar vortex is killing me. Too much cold! But here you go! And Gemini011, the shout out in this is because of you.

* * *

**No more pussyfooting around**: a Ranma ½ fanfic

By Indygodusk

**Chapter 22: Chipmunks and threats**

* * *

_That night, Ranma expected to have nightmares about being stuck as a girl, getting a period, and maybe drowning in blue water. To his very pleasant surprise, instead he had another nice dream about snuggling up to Akane (though he was acting like a cat at the time again, but whatever.) She had let him doze up against her side while she absently carded her fingers through his hair. Ranma sleepily decided that Akane had the best fingers ever._

_Of course, Friday morning proved to once again be troublesome. _Akane was in a foul mood about something, though she wouldn't say what, and it made breakfast a little bit tense. He did notice her touching her side at one point and wincing, which he realized belatedly that she'd been doing for a few days. He opened his mouth at one point to ask about it before he remembered that she was on her period, with cramps and _vaginal_ _bleeding_, and then his mind collapsed into protective _lalalalalala not thinking about it!_

However, even though he'd suppressed any thoughts about _why_ Akane might be unhappy, he still didn't like seeing her look that way. After his dream last night, Ranma was having trouble suppressing the urge to wrap his arms around Akane and just snuggle his face into the curve of her neck until she relaxed her stiff, unhappy posture and let him support her against his chest. Not looking directly at her helped, but he still found himself unconsciously leaning closer when she talked, or inching nearer to her cushion only to barely pull back at the last second when hopefully no one was looking.

It was ridiculous.

He might have to start avoiding Akane for a little while. Maybe a little distance would help him regain his control. Stupid kidnapping and stupid cat fist and stupid Okinawa messing somehow with his control. This was going to suck.

Then, before Ranma even got inside the school, Ranma was accosted by a group of geeks from the Dungeons and Dragons club. He probably wouldn't recognize them except for the t-shirts most of them wore under their open uniform jackets with giant 20-sided dice, dragons, monsters, and bad puns about bonuses.

"Ranma Saotome, this is all your fault!" the surprisingly fit guy in front accused. Ranma recognized him from the baseball and soccer teams, and had a few classes with the guy. He wouldn't have pegged him as being a part of this crowd.

Sighing, Ranma asked, "Whadda ya mean? What did I do now?"

Jun, that was his name Ranma finally remembered, continued, "If you hadn't monopolized the attentions of Akane Tendo, Gosunkugi never would have gotten so crazy with his magic attempts!

"Yeah," backed up the scrawny kid behind Jun, "he barely comes to play D & D with us anymore, and we'll never beat this monster without him!" Reading Ranma's lack of recognition, the kid finished with, "I'm Ren, a level 8 cleric."

"Um," Ranma said, "I'm not sure how that's relevant to whatever you're here to yell at me about, but class starts in a few minutes so if you could just get to the point? My day is already a bit crappy, and I don't want to be holding buckets in the hall this morning."

Jun was pushed up front again, clearly the leader of the club with his, DMs rule t-shirt, which made no sense to Ranma, any more than Yuuji's shirt proclaiming, Jesus saves, all others take 4d6 damage. Tugging his jacket straight, Jun explained, "Look, it's like this Saotome. Gosunkugi borrowed Yuuji's Spell Compendium and our mascot Trixie, and somehow managed to cast a spell that got him a girlfriend."

"And he refuses to share, the selfish jerk," yelled someone in the back.

Ren sighed loud and dramatically, and then said, "I told you he couldn't share because we only had one Trixie. Plus, she isn't a normal girlfriend. She's possessed by an evil demon that he accidentally raised and then lost control of! She meets all of the criteria in the spell compendium."

"Are you serious?" Ranma asked, looking around at them incredulously.

"I wouldn't lie about something like a demon," Ren defended hotly. "I'm a level 8 cleric!"

"Hey, I'm not saying you're a liar, I'm just shocked Gosunkugi got a spell to work for real, is all." Ranma replied.

"Oh, well," Ren scratched his head sheepishly, "we were rather surprised at that too."

Just then the 5-minute warning bell rang for first period. "Look," Jun said, "we'll spy on him throughout the day and get you some more information, but we're going to need some real muscle to trap this girl and you're it. We don't expect much in the way of brains, but I'm used to working with barbarian classes so don't worry about it."

"Hey, watch it!" Ranma growled. He wasn't a barbarian, whatever that meant to them. In fact, he was quite good at strategy, thank you very much, even if his grades weren't the greatest. "But fine, you guys collect the information and I'll try to keep an eye out for this girl. I'm not touching her until we make sure she really is possessed by a demon, though she was acting creepy yesterday too. But we need more evidence. Are there just the five of you?"

"Usually we have six not counting Gosunkugi," Jun explained, "but Tetsu already has a girlfriend, so he's not as bitter as the rest of us. We'll succeed though, because we're used to working together on a quest, right guys?"

"Right!" they all shouted back.

After that, everyone scattered to their various classes and spying duties. By lunch, the reports were in. Gosunkugi's new girlfriend was definitely possessed by an evil demon. She wasn't picky about who she drained of energy, either.

"Do we know what kind of demon," Ranma asked Jun, "or how to get rid of her?"

Jun looked over his party before focusing on Ren, "You're our cleric. What are your thoughts, Tanutorucalus the Wise?"

"Who?" Ranma asked, but was ignored.

"Well," Ren said, adjusting imaginary glasses, "at first I thought a succubus, except that unfortunately she's draining people without using any sex, not even a kiss or any groping. I caught her with a first year girl outside the bathroom and thought I'd get a show, but no luck."

"Don't be a pervert," Yuuji scolded as he slapped Ren on the back of the head.

Leaning out of reach, Ren added, "But it was Mayuri, that girl who suddenly matured and hasn't bought any new shirts yet. You know, the one with the straining buttons."

"Ohhhh," half the group sighed and started to drool.

"Can you blame me for hoping for some girl on girl action?" Ren finished, sending the other half into fantasy land.

Ranma would never admit it to anyone, but he may have replayed the memory of walking in on Akane and Shampoo in the bath together a few times in his mind. And he may have imagined a slightly different, dare he even say _friendlier_, ending to the affair after he'd come in. Not that Shampoo or anyone else was allowed to touch Akane, but Shampoo was hot (even if rather annoyingly persistent and fake as well), and the two of them had made a _very_ pretty picture. Perhaps he'd occasionally entertained the idea of being sandwiched between those two gorgeous girls. He was a guy, after all.

But even in his imaginings, heated sighs almost always turned to heated blows as imaginary Akane would get angry at the situation, or even worse, turn those big, liquid eyes on him and make him feel like scum for forcing her to be in such a sordid fantasy. It was frustrating that even imaginary Akane wouldn't let him fully enjoy himself. Which was extremely hypocritical of him, because if he had even an inkling that Akane was imagining him and another guy both touching her, he'd go ballistic and disembowel the fellow.

Or at least, he'd want to. He wouldn't actually do it. Probably.

Clearing his throat, Ranma forced them to get back on track. "So what kind of demon do you think it is then?" he asked.

Snorting up from his sordid daydream, Ren wiped the drool from his chin and continued. "Well, I'm not completely sure, but based on a few books I checked out from the library, I think it is a chipmunk demon."

Jun cleared his throat. "Um, excuse me, did you say chipmunk demon? That's what's being running around draining students? That's what attacked Ranma? A chipmunk?"

"A chipmunk demon," Ren reiterated as everyone groaned or shook their heads in disbelief. "I'm serious. They can be very formidable when they possess someone, and are known to be jealous. They drain other humans to keep a strong grip on the person they are possessing, and like to hoard trinkets like hair ribbons, which this girl is obviously obsessed with considering how she whips those things around."

"But a _chipmunk_ demon?" Ranma said. It just didn't sound very fierce.

"Hey, I believe him," Yuuji said. "Just think about those girls on Chip and Dale or Alvin and the Chipmunks, they could be super scary." When everyone sent him blank, confused looks, he blushed and mumbled, "American cartoons, forget about it."

_Must be some horror/suspense show from America_, Ranma assumed. "Well," he began slowly, "what else do we know about how to get rid of… chipmunk demons."

"Well," Ren said, "they are very sociable with other small animal demons, like weasel and rat demons, so they often aren't found alone, and if they are alone, they quickly recruit allies. We better contain this girl fast before we have more than one problem."

"Great," Ranma muttered. A cold tendril slid down his spine as he remembered the words that girl had said about Akane. Could there be another demon out there targeting Akane without him knowing? Well, if there was, Ranma would protect Akane. At any cost.

"We're going to need the original spell caster to help banish her. Otherwise, it'll take me several weeks to get through this book to figure out the right banishment spell. I've got an algebra test and a history report next week that take precedence.

"Over a demon?" Yuuji said disapprovingly.

"Hey," Ren replied, "if my grades slip, my mom won't let us hold D&D nights at my house anymore."

Jun hastily intervened, "Let him focus on his schoolwork. The rest of us can work on getting Gosu to admit his girlfriend is possessed."

The rest of the day was extremely frustrating. Gosunkugi wouldn't admit that his new girlfriend was possessed until it was pointed out to him four times, three students were found drained and unconscious, she'd almost killed Ranma twice, and one school statue got beheaded by her bows. In the end, Akane had thrown up her hands, screeched, "this is ridiculous!" and berated Ranma into telling her the full story of what was going on.

"So you need to get Gosunkugi away from his girlfriend so you can confront him and figure out what spell he used, and then you can get this girl unpossessed. Right?" she asked.

"Basically," Ranma admitted. "But I'm working on a backup plan."

"Of course you are," she said, rolling her eyes. "So she's possessed by a chipmunk demon, of all things, and drains people of energy, hoards trinkets, and will recruit other demons to her. Great, just another normal day in Nerima, right?" Akane smiled and him, and Ranma couldn't help but shrug and smile back.

Akane huffed a laugh, and then got a thoughtful look in her eye as she focused on the announcement board over Ranma's shoulder. "I have an idea, but we'll need to split up."

Before Ranma could voice his protest, Akane put her hand over his mouth.  
"Look, I'll get them separated and get Gosunkugi to go the library alone," she boasted. Her touch had both startled and thrilled Ranma, and it took a second to process what she said after her calloused fingers dropped from his suddenly over-sensitive lips. "But after that, you're on your own except for emergencies. I'm swamped with meetings this afternoon, and they'll kill me if I skip out."

"How are you going to- wait, you're not coming with m…" Ranma cut himself off before he could actually whine that Akane wasn't going to come along. If she'd prefer to do some other committee thing instead of help him out, he'd be fine. He didn't need her help. He wasn't hurt, just disappointed. "I mean, sure, that's fine," Ranma muttered. He wasn't disappointed, he was fine. Just because Akane almost always came along didn't mean she had to always come along. It was fine. Sure, sure it was. No problem. Maybe he felt a little disoriented as he wandered down to the library by himself, but whatever. It was fine. _(And he'd keep telling himself that until that strange uncomfortable feeling went away.)_

* * *

Akane felt horrible. She hadn't missed the shock and disappointment in Ranma's eyes when she'd refused to see this to the end. Nor had she missed the hangdog look he'd tried to hide as he'd plodded off to the library without the usual spring in his step.

Although she wanted to help, Akane feared that with her side the way it was, she'd just get in the way. What if she wasn't able to move fast enough, and Ranma did something stupidly brave to save her that ended up with him getting hurt? She could barely stand the thought.

This way, she'd be able to help and if she screwed up, no one would be around to get hurt but herself. Luckily Ranma had been too distracted by her refusal to help that he hadn't thought about how she'd probably be confronting the couple by herself. Of course, Akane was confident that she could handle things just fine. Akane's body may be injured, but her mind worked just fine. The announcement board had given her a few ideas too.

It only took a few minutes to track the lovey-dovey couple down. The amount of "snookums" and "sweetie-pies" thrown around in the course of one minute was frankly disgusting. They also walked slower than an arthritic grandmother. She had to swallow down her nausea at their cuddling before she was able to paste on an innocent expression. As soon as the couple finally passed the particular poster on the wall she'd been waiting for, she spoke up.

"Excuse me," she said in a hesitant voice, trying to project helpless and feminine.

Immediately Gosunkugi turned around and blushed. "A-A-Akane!" He exclaimed. "What can I do for you? Do you need help with something?"

As soon as he had turned around and seen Akane, he had dropped his girlfriend's arm and stepped forward. If Akane didn't know that the girl was really possessed, she'd feel awful. Boys really were pigs. As it was, she still had to swallow down the urge to let him know how his actions disgusted her.

"I think I saw your camera in the library, and some girls were talking about looking through it to see if they could figure out who it belonged to based on the pictures, but you probably have private stuff on there, so…" she trailed off. More likely he had perverted and invasive stuff on there, since she knew for a fact that he'd taken personal pictures of her in the past without her permission, until both she and Ranma had threatened him (though she's not sure what Ranma said, just that it made the guy tremble and sweat whenever Ranma glared at him). Whatever the case, Akane hoped that he'd be in a rush to hide those photos to avoid retribution from other people in the school.

"Oh, thank you, yes," he stammered with a shifty-eyed look. "I'll just go and get that right now. Unless you need me to-," he offered and leaned towards Akane.

Stepping back out of his reach just in case, she quickly said, "No, no I'm fine. I don't need anything. I just don't want your camera to get stolen. You better run and get it." When he didn't start moving fast enough for her liking, Akane dropped her cutesy act and ordered, "Now."

Smiling dopily, he stumbled into a jog and disappeared around the corner.

Akane blew out a breath in relief, only to be confronted by the narrowly assessing look on his girlfriend's face. _I need to find out this girl's name,_ Akane reminded herself. Yet something stopped her tongue from asking. There was something… dangerous about this girl, and it put Akane on guard.

"So we meet at last, Akane Tendo" she drawled as she looked Akane up and down. Her nose crinkled in disgust and her lip curled during the perusal, igniting Akane's pride.

"I'm sorry," Akane replied sweetly, ignoring the frantic voice telling her to shut up and walk quickly away. "I didn't know you were so anxious to meet me, since no one seems to ever talk about you. Who are you again?"

Storms gathered in the other girl's eyes, "No one mentions me, do they?! Well, I…" she paused, took a deep breath, and licked her blood red lips. Then she smirked cruelly, a smile that had no business being on the face of an innocent teenaged girl. It was practically obscene with evil.

"Lately, I'll admit, I have been talking to someone who loves to talk about _you_, Akane. I can call you Akane, can't I, since we're going to be such good friends?" she cooed. "After all, my friend is very invested in you. He's quite wrapped up in your life, in fact, and tells me that you look just ravishing in _pearls_." She grinned in satisfaction as Akane flinched and stumbled back a step. "He's developed a consuming passion for you, says you're so cute he could just eat you up."

"W-w-what are you talking about," Akane forced out through practically numb lips.

"Tsk, tsk, don't tell me you've forgotten it already." She stalked forward, close enough to Akane to whisper in her ear, "He talks of you so fondly. After all, you did give birth to his string of pearls, dear Akane, and soon you'll give to birth to his-," she stopped abruptly, stepped back, smiled cruelly, and then tossed her hair and trailing bows over each shoulder nonchalantly.

"To his what?" Akane whispered, unable to summon the force for a louder question. Even worse than the horrible memories her words stirred up was the compelling feeling that every terrifying thing this girl was saying was true, even though Akane had no idea what she meant or how bleeding on a dirty string had come to be associated with the terrifying word _birth_. Not to mention that she had no idea who this "he" was she spoke of so casually.

Could it be the demon that had tried to dig into her ki? But hadn't Sachi cut him off, dug him out? Wasn't Akane supposed to be mostly safe now and hard to find?

But the other girl merely smirked again. "No no, we probably shouldn't speak of such things in public, Akane. After all, if your dear Ranma found out you'd cheated on him and were no longer pure, well, I think we can both imagine the eruption to follow. He's going to be so angry with you, and after that, he might even go crazy enough to start destroying things like that boy with the bandana who's always lost."

She laughed at her own words and twirled on her feet. "That sounds like fun, maybe we should tell him after all. He has so much power and rage, I bet he could level all of Nerima. Of course, there's always the small chance he might actually forgive you for being so stupid, though he'd certainly never forget it. What do you think, Akane? Should I tell him for you? After all, I only want to help you out, Akane."

Akane thought that if this girl didn't stop using her name so familiarly and so often, Akane was going to reel back and punch her in the face several times. Either way, Akane had to get mad and attack, because if she didn't get mad right now, she was going to throw up from fear. "I think you don't know what you are talking about. I think you don't have a name, not because you haven't introduced yourself to anyone, but because you are insignificant. I think that, even if there is some demon associated with me, he wouldn't give you the time of day because _you are worth nothing_."

Rage transformed that pretty face into sharp planes of inhuman ugliness. Akane felt satisfaction that her words had hit a sore spot. But those razor sharp bows were quivering and a dark glow gathered around the other girl's fingers. Her chances of escaping unscathed, physically at least, were rapidly dropping (mentally she was already bleeding out all over the floor).

Akane had to put the other half of her plan into action now, before she got killed. Hopefully, it would work, and no one else would get hurt in the process. Reaching up, Akane ripped the poster off the wall and tossed it over the other girl's head. Then she turned and ran down the hallway as fast as she could go.

When she didn't hear any footsteps following, or feel any razor-sharp bows cutting into the flesh of her back, Akane let herself stop. It was just her alone in the hallway. Sneaking up a staircase to the second floor, she concealed herself inside a dark classroom with a clear vantage point of a door down the hall. An identical poster to the one Akane had thrown was taped to it. The poster proclaimed in curling turquoise poster paint: Official Meeting of the Ribbon and Bow club! We welcome fashionistas, hobbyists, martial arts gymnasts, and martial arts present wrappers (no archers, please).

An unpleasant grin twisted Akane's lips as she watched the demon possessed girl walk up to the door, check the poster, and then walk in. It seems Ranma's information about her addiction to trinkets like ribbons and bows had been accurate. It also seemed like no one had informed her of the trap on the door, or that the club president was Kodachi Kuno.

Within seconds, a cloud of pink vapor enveloped the doorway where the girl had entered, and the sound of hundreds of slithering ribbons echoed down to Akane's hiding place. Cautiously she waited for the vapor to clear, then, holding her sleeve over her nose and mouth, Akane ventured out into the hallway to get a better look. Akane was praying that no innocent bystanders in the club had gotten hurt trying to trap and subdue the girl she had driven into the Ribbon and Bow club's trap.

Before she could reach the room, Kodachi Kuno stomped out into the hallway and looked aroun. "Akane Tendo," she called regally. "You don't look busy. Dispose of this for us, would you?" And with that, she yanked on the ribbon Akane had overlooked in her hand. A limp body, wrapped from ankle to forehead in ribbon, slid out into the hall. Without another word, Kodachi turned on her heel and slammed the door, leaving Akane and the unconscious girl alone in the hallway.

Akane had to resist the urge to kick her in the face, since it was positioned so conveniently close to her foot. "Brawn isn't everything," she boasted to the quiet hallway with a tight grin. Then she grabbed a nearby book cart from a classroom and awkwardly flopped the girl up onto it. Akane wasn't very gentle.

However, maybe she should have been more careful for her own sake. The frantic run and the careless slinging of her opponent's body had made Akane's side ache all over again. Allowing herself a single grunt of effort, Akane pushed her load around the corner and made her way down to the library. At the double doors, she looked through the windows and saw Ranma leaning against a table with his arms crossed. He was staring at a group of boys surrounding a seated and depressed looking Gosunkugi. _Good, their talking-to must have worked. _

* * *

When Gosunkugi hurried into the library by himself, the entire D&D club, including the until-then errant Tetsu, grabbed him, forced him into a chair, and beat him down with facts and figures. They even rolled some dice a few times, which Ranma didn't understand, but which nevertheless seemed to somehow help convince Gosunkugi that his supposed girlfriend was crazy. Finally he hung his head and admitted that it might be more than a coincidence that he'd been outside experimenting with a new spell, and that the first girl he ran into after that latched onto him and declared herself his girlfriend. He also admitted that a car had run over a chipmunk nearby where he'd been working his spells, and that the flattened carcass had maybe gotten up and walked away, but he'd been distracted by the girl on his arm and ignored it. Somehow. Ren also made Gosunkugi admit that he'd abducted and destroyed the club mascot Trixie during his spell, and made him promise to replace her.

Of course, once they had convinced Gosunkugi, they had to figure out how to get her to sit still long enough to perform the exorcism. Ranma kept volunteering to just go and grab her, or to distract her and keep her in a contained area while they chanted the spell nearby, but for some reason no one would listen to him. Instead, they just kept arguing with themselves on the best strategy for capturing a demon. Some of the things they suggested had to be pure fantasy. It was getting frustrating.

If Akane was here, she'd have a good plan or she'd let him do his plan. Plus, these guys all worshipped Akane. They'd listen to her if she was here, but instead she was at her stupid committee meeting.

"But she's a dangerous demon! How are we going to capture her for the ceremony without getting us all killed?" yelled the high-strung Tetsu.

Just then, the door banged open and Akane strolled through towing something behind her on a cart. "I have a delivery," Akane called out with a saucy grin. Ranma smiled and shifted his stance to one of readiness. Everything was once again right in the world.

* * *

"But she's a dangerous demon! How are we going to capture her for the ceremony without getting us all killed?" The loud voice of one of the boys sounded through the door.

_That sounds like my cue, _Akane thought_. _Banging the doors open with her hip, Akane towed the cart inside. "I have a delivery," Akane called out as everyone looked up.

"What is that?" asked Jun from her English class, craning his head to see around her body. Then he choked and jumped up from his chair when he finally got a good look. "Is that really…?"

Ranma looked between the bundle and her face a couple of times before he started to laugh. "And here we've all been worrying for nothing. I guess you don't need me after all. Akane somehow caught her for us."

Akane could tell he was impressed. Heck, they all were staring at her with varying degrees of surprise and admiration. "You should know by now that I never need you, Ranma," she teased.

However, at her words, Ranma's smile suddenly disappeared. "I know," he snapped back.

_I was teasing, _she thought, surprised by his reaction._ He wasn't really hurt by that, was he? _

"But how did you do it?" asked Ren, distracting her from the expression on Ranma's face.

Just then the clock began to chime the half-hour. "Crap," Akane said as she checked the time. "I am completely late. I've gotta run. Good luck with the exorcism or whatever. Don't worry about being gentle." That said, she forced herself to turn and walk away to go to her meeting. She didn't know what to say to Ranma to fix it right now anyways. Maybe she'd talk to him later after she figured it out.

For now, she'd done all she could, all she would let herself do, to help Ranma. For the rest of it, if things went wrong her body might falter at the wrong moment, and potentially get one of those other idiots hurt. Besides, as long as they didn't screw up her hard work, the rest of this should be a piece of cake.

TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

AN: Next chapter completes the story of the chipmunk demon. Akane also has a talk with Dr. Tofu about one of her secrets.

p.s. Did you see that Jane Drew updated her fanfic Frozen Moonlight? I haven't read it yet because I don't remember what was going on beyond Kaoru maybe being kidnapped by someone in a warehouse or something, but I am super excited.


	23. Exorcisms and Office Work

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and its characters do not belong to me.

AN: Really LONG chapter ahead. Enjoy!

* * *

**No more pussyfooting around**: a Ranma ½ fanfic

By Indygodusk

**Chapter 23: Exorcisms and Office Work**

* * *

_Akane could tell he was impressed. Heck, they all were staring at her with varying degrees of surprise and admiration. "You should know by now that I never need you, Ranma," she teased. _

_However, at her words, Ranma's smile suddenly dimmed and became almost plastic. "I know," he snapped back. _

_I was teasing, she thought. He wasn't really hurt by that, was he? _

"_But how did you do it?" asked Ren, distracting her from the expression on Ranma's face. _

_Just then the clock began to chime the half-hour. "Crap," Akane said as she checked the time. "I am completely late. I've gotta run. Good luck with the exorcism or whatever. Don't worry about being gentle." That said, she forced herself to turn and walk away to go to her meeting. She didn't know what to say to Ranma to fix it right now anyways. Maybe she'd talk to him later after she figured it out._

_For now, she'd done all she could, all she would let herself do, to help Ranma. For the rest of it, if things went wrong her body might falter at the wrong moment, and potentially get one of those other idiots hurt. Besides, as long as they didn't screw up her hard work, the rest of this should be a piece of cake._

00000000000000000

The actual exorcism was taking forever to figure out, even with Gosunkugi's cooperation. Bored out of his mind, Ranma was flipping through one of their D&D manuals looking at all of the cool fantasy pictures. One of them showed a hugely muscled guy with knee-high boots, furry underwear, and what sorta looked like a mullet, punching at a green-skinned creature. He had terrible form. He really needed to turn his body more into the punch and bend his knees. Then Ranma read the caption.

"Hey, Jun!" Ranma said, annoyed. "This barbarian guy looks nothing like me."

Their DM didn't look up from where he was pouring over a book with Ren. Instead he answered absently, "Huh? Oh, I just meant in intelligence and impulse control, not looks."

Ranma narrowed his eyes, "Really. And how intelligent is a barbarian supposed to be?"

Jun looked up, gulped loudly and then said, "Oh, they're really smart and strong, of course, and very strategic and wise." He avoided Ranma's eyes as he finished, "B-but I'm sure you are more suited to another class now that I know you better."

Ranma was about to go look up the stats on Barbarians to check the out their description, but before he could Yuujirou handed him something called The Monster Manual. "Here Ranma, take a look at this," he said as he deftly slipped the other book out of Ranma's hands. "It has lots of cool pictures and descriptions of bad guys." Distracted, Ranma soon lost himself in all of the images of strange creatures.

Finally, Testu decided take pity on the unconscious demon girl and moved her from the cart. He stumbled a bit with her weight before dropping her on a table. Immediately, a small cloud of fine pink powder billowed up. He gasped in surprise, then his eyes rolled up in his head and his limp form slithered to the floor.

"Retreat!" screeched someone in panic as everyone dived behind the nearest chair or table to cower.

"Don't hurt me, snookums," whimpered Gosunkugi from where he hid under the table with his arms over his head.

From his position behind a chair, Ranma noticed that she wasn't moving. However, that didn't necessarily mean anything. It could be a trick. At her feet lay Testu on the floor with a small trickle of drool escaping his mouth, but otherwise he seemed to be breathing normally.

"She can cast magic silently," moaned Ren, "without even a wand or hand gestures. That's not fair. You don't let us do that," he whined as he poked Jun in the side.

Jun swatted away his hand without looking away from the ribbon sheathed girl on the table. "That's because you have to follow the rules of your character class," he replied absently. "Hey Ranma, Akane never did tell us how she got this girl all tied up."

"So?" replied Ranma, not sure where Jun was going with his comment.

"I was just thinking," Jun whispered, "don't the ribbons and the pink powder seem kind of familiar? Don't they remind you of someone?"

"Huh," Ranma said, "you're right: Kodachi Kuno."

Although still wary, when nothing else happened, Ranma darted out and pulled Testu to safety. Then he carefully padded back over to the girl on the table, bent over, and examined her a little more carefully. Just in case, Ranma made sure to hold his breath. Then he stepped back a few feet, took a few breaths and strolled back to the cowering D&D club.

Cocking a hip against the table, Ranma confirmed, "Yep, good call Jun. She's still asleep. Those ribbons are covered in pink powder, just like that crap Kodachi likes to use on people. It doesn't tend to be permanent though, so Tetsu should be fine. We'll just have to watch to make sure she doesn't wake up too soon."

Although Ranma was dying to question her further about Akane. He just wasn't sure the ribbons would hold a demon. He considered taking the risk anyways, but every time she started to wake up, one of the club members would run over with his shirt tucked over his face and poof the ribbons until a fine pink powder would rise up and send the girl back to sleep. It was a bit frustrating, but probably wise.

It took until after dinner, and everyone's stomachs were grumbling and tempers were short, for Gosunkugi to remember the correct order and wording of the spell. If done correctly, it should sever the tie allowing the demon possession. Supposedly. As Gosunkugi and his assistant, level 8 cleric Ren, chanted the spell to undo the binding of the possessed girl, the lights began flickering.

At that point, unfortunately, she woke up. But all she'd had to say for herself from behind her cocoon of ribbon were growls, swear words, and general but filthy threats. The chanting seemed to keep her contained, at least at first.

But then suddenly she rose up to hover in the air, ribbons burning away from her body in a rain of golden-black snakes of ash. "I'll kill you all," she shrieked, hair flicking around her body as if sentient and eyes becoming black pits of burning insanity. "I'm going to tear the flesh from your bones with my teeth and make a wall mural from your pelts!"

"And you, Saotome," she turned to Ranma with an overwhelmingly vile look of hate, "I'm going to chain you up and let you live just long enough that the last sight you'll ever see will be their offspring cracking your bones to suck on your marrow as he mounts her writhing body on the bloody floor next to your soon-to-be corpse!" she shrieked.

Ranma found himself moving forward, reason disintegrated, vision blind to any but the enemy of his mate, teeth bared in rage, hands glowing white and only getting brighter as he swing at the demon in a brutal killing move. It was designed to collapse her rib cage, shatter it into her lungs and heart, and tear her torso into two bloody chunks. That he was gathering so much power that it might also collapse the school and surrounding neighborhood, killing or injuring everyone in his radius, wasn't a priority to Ranma right now. Once she was dead, he would worry about containing it.

But before he could connect and destroy this threat to his mate, the shaky voices chanting in the background screamed out one last word and fell silent. A concussion wave of light and sound burst out from the demon's body and knocked Ranma across the room and into the wall. Shaking the stars from his eyes, he rolled as soon as he touched the floor and rushed forward to attack his enemy again.

As his fist descended on the female body sprawled on the table, she lifted a head sporting short cropped brown hair and looked at him with frightened, moss-green eyes. "No," she whimpered as she flinched away and fell off the table. "Please, don't hurt me," she cried as she scrambled backwards until she hit the wall.

Flipping the table out of the way as if it was a mere pebble in his path, Ranma advanced two more strides before he heard Akane roar at him to, "Stop!" Swaying from the effort, he paused. Blinked. Shook his head. Breathed out, and slowly, centimeter by centimeter, forced his hands to unclench and lower to his sides.

"Is she clean," he growled to the room, silent except for the soft whimpering of the girl on the floor.

"Ye- ye- yes, the demon is gone. We did it," Gosunkugi said.

"We did it!" shouted Yuujirou jubilantly. "No pelts for us!" The rest of the club members came out from hiding as they clapped and cheered.

Cracking his neck, Ranma forced himself to calm down and pasted a hopefully normal expression on his face. Then he looked around for Akane. But she wasn't there.

Reaching out down the tie, he realized that she was at home in her room with a splitting headache. _Had he been drawing energy from her again? _Confused and disgusted by himself for a multitude of reasons, he sent what energy he could back down the line to soothe her pain.

Whatever had just happened here scared him. Not the stupid demon, but how far that demon had made him loose control. Of course her threat towards Akane was horrific and made his vision threaten to white-out just recalling it, but Ranma had almost killed that innocent girl and potentially the entire D&D club along with half of the neighborhood.

Ranma had to get control of himself. A martial artist without discipline was worthless, dishonorable. Until he could trust himself again, he'd have to try and avoid anything or anyone that might lead him to do something regrettable.

Forcing himself to walk slowly over to the girl, who had been a mere demon host, he reminded himself, Ranma cleared his throat. "Sorry," he said to her, "I thought you were still the demon." It helped that she didn't even look the same, with short hair instead of long and different colored eyes.

She looked down and swallowed, "Ok, but I'm not. My name is Toriko, Toriko Takeda, and I'm not a demon. At least, not anymore," she finished with a green-eyed look of hate towards Gosunkugi that made him wilt into a ball on the floor.

Turning to Jun she said softly, "I'd like to go home now, please. My family must be worried."

"Of course, I'll make sure you get home safely," Jun said, sweeping his coat over her shoulders chivalrously as he led her out of the library. After that, everyone chipped in to clean up. To celebrate their survival and victory, everyone was going out to dinner at the local Curry House. However Ranma was still too angry at himself to be good company.

"Have fun!" Ranma called out as he turned in the opposite direction and started to make his way home. As he passed a drink machine on the corner, he noticed that Akane's favorite Grapefruit Gokuri was finally back in season again. Fishing around in his pockets, he found enough change to buy two of them. He stashed one in his backpack and screwed open the cap on the other.

Looking out at the moonlight reflecting off the waters of the canal, he slowly sipped the sweetly tart, pulpy drink and forced himself to admit the source of his loss of control: his confrontation with the cat fist. He needed to go back in there, to that dark and scary place in his mind. Ranma had to figure out what had happened in there that it could keep taking over like this, even when he wasn't near a cat.

Draining the last drop of his juice, he tossed the can into the trash and jogged over to the nearest park. He didn't want to do this at the dojo, just in case. Finding his favorite secluded patch of ground, he dropped his bag and flowed into a tai chi exercise to calm himself down. When he finished his warm-up, Ranma began moving through the martial arts geometry kata to create the mirrored dome of energy to examine the dark places inside of himself.

* * *

Akane tapped a pencil against her lip. She had decided to get her homework done early this weekend so she wouldn't have to worry about it later. Plus, it was a good distraction from brooding on how Ranma was doing without her. She was focusing on her history right now, because it was one of the few classes she shared with Ranma and he always forgot his book and had to borrow hers.

As she tried to focus on a paragraph about a commander named Saitou Hajime at the end of the Bakumatsu, a sharp, throbbing headache swelled up out of nowhere. Wincing in pain, Akane closed her eyes and let her head drop, trying to push past the strange feelings of weakness and slight nausea. She hated headaches.

Bringing her hand up to shade her eyes, she miserably wished that Ranma would magically appear to turn off the stabbing light, whisk her over to her bed, and help her take a couple of pain pills. _Why don't you have this imaginary Ranma snuggle up behind you until you feel better while you're at it?_ she asked herself sarcastically. _Maybe give you a massage while he's there?_

It was a nice thought, but instead of imagining something so comforting, her mind jumped instead to the guys in the library trying to exorcise the demon from that girl. Her imaginary view of the room was jumpy, and she couldn't really hear what was going on, but suddenly Ranma's fists were glowing and heading straight for the girl, who didn't look possessed anymore. She just looked confused and scared. Nevertheless, Ranma didn't seem to be stopping his attack. Hadn't he noticed? "Stop!" Akane yelled at him. As if he could hear her words, his fist froze a few inches from the girl's cowering body.

A sudden knocking sound jolted her from the strange daydream. "Akane?" Kasumi called out. "Are you okay?"

Opening her eyes and putting a hand over her rapidly beating heart, Akane looked down at her half-finished worksheet and open textbook, and realized that it must have been her overactive imagination playing tricks on her. "Sorry, I was just doing homework and talking to myself," she apologized.

Kasumi opened the door, stuck her head in, and looked her little sister over. "Are you sure you don't need anything?"

"Thanks sis," Akane smiled, "but it's just been a long week. I didn't mean to bother you."

"No worries," Kasumi said with a soft smile. "I remember wanting to yell at a textbook or two once upon a time myself. Let me know if you need anything. I'll be watching TV in the living room after I finish the dishes, and you are welcome to join me."

"Thanks," Akane said again, having a hard time imagining her sweet sister yelling at anything, even a textbook. "Maybe I will."

As Kasumi left and closed the door again, Akane realized that her headache had disappeared, just as quickly and mysteriously as it had started. Akane was just glad it was gone. She never used to be prone to headaches, but ever since China she'd been getting them regularly.

Trying not to worry about Ranma and how the exorcism was going, since he still wasn't home, she returned to the distraction of her history worksheet and the life and times of the enigmatic Saitou Hajime.

* * *

As Ranma dropped down into his own mind, he forced himself to go straight onto the path leading to his memories of the cat fist, despite the urge to detour a bit. This time, however, there was no pus-lined path, no screeches and hisses, just a gentle slope covered in what felt like carpet. Occasionally he heard a distant purr, or the echo of claws clicking and scratching, but it never came closer.

Ranma had to climb up, around, and through a few obstacles that reminded him of scratching posts, and then finally he was in a meadow. A ring of tall, dark trees loomed around the small patch of grass, and low-hanging black clouds hid the position of the sun. The only movement came from a figure sitting on a low branch, swinging his legs.

"Are you me?" Ranma asked the doppelganger sitting in the tree.

"I'm a part of you," the pigtailed man answered, rolling off the branch and dropping silently to the grass below. Standing up, he smiled, showing too many teeth, and sauntered closer. "What brings you down here? Are you finally going to let me claim our mate the way she needs to be claimed?"

At his question, a feeling of lust, possession, and anticipation rolled through Ranma's body. "What?" Ranma asked. "No! We are not claiming Akane yet. She's not ready."

"Oh, I think she is," purred the other Ranma.

"I said no, and I'm the one in charge of this body," Ranma stated, "which is actually why I'm down here. Is it your fault that I keep swinging out of control and getting these… strange urges?"

"I'd call them natural urges, not strange," he drawled. "But I suppose you could blame that on me, if you must. I just happen to see things a lot more clearly than you. You are all about being honorable and following all of these rules. I'm a cat, mostly. Things are a lot more black and white to me."

"So, what, you want me to go around murdering people now?" Ranma asked incredulously. "Because that'll land us in jail or dead pretty quick. Even if the police don't have something to say about it, my mom sure will."

"Whatever," the doppelganger replied with a pout that made Ranma feel almost queasy. _He did not look like that stupid when he pouted, did he?_

"No, you need to stop it and just let me be in control," Ranma argued.

"I usually do," he groused back, "but now that I'm more awake I'm bored and I'm lonely. You hardly ever run into cats anymore. Plus, I miss Akane. If you aren't going to claim her yet, you need to at least touch her more. She's lonely too, you know."

Ranma blushed. "I can't just go up and randomly start touching Akane. She'd pound me into the ground."

"Oh please," the doppelganger rolled his eyes. "I touch her all the time and _she likes it_. She never punches me. Well, almost never, but nothing ventured nothing gained. Grow a spine! Use some stealth and strategy! Be sneaky! Are you a martial artist or not?"

"Whatever," Ranma huffed, but his mind was clicking over to different ways he could seem to accidentally invade Akane's personal space without her flipping out over it. There were a few things he could do, especially when she was distracted. Shaking his head, he brought himself back to the conversation at hand.

"But what about how we almost killed that girl? You can't do something like that to me again." Ranma demanded.

His doppelganger's tail (and when had he gotten that?) began to thrash back and forth in agitation. "She threatened our mate! She was going to help someone mount _our_ _mate_. Of course I was going to kill her. Threats must be killed."

Ranma forced himself to unclench his teeth from the anger and fear brought up by the reminder of the threat to Akane. "What are you, Shampoo now? 'Obstacles must be killed?' We aren't that crazy yet. You know that I'll do whatever needs to be done to protect Akane, but killing is a last resort. It _has to be_ if we want to remain good enough _to be_ Akane's mate one day."

The other Ranma grumbled, but didn't respond right away. It meant he was finally listening, hopefully. Now he just had to finish persuading him now that he was listening.

"You said that you are the cat part of us, and if that is true, then I'm the human part of us. We live in the human world, and Akane is a human woman. We have to be mostly human and act human if we are going to continue to survive, if we are going to belong. I-," Ranma hesitated, because he didn't want to admit the truth that had popped into his mind, but it was probably already too late. He might as well say it. "I know now that the cat, that you, are a part of me. I know that I can't keep pushing you down and ignoring you. I am willing to try and let you out more, but you have to promise that you won't make us kill someone or… pounce on Akane before she says she's ready. As much as we'd like to," he finished wryly.

"She smells ready," the other Ranma muttered. "I won't promise no pouncing, but I will let you be in charge when we mate her." Then he quirked a smile at Ranma and sighed exaggeratedly. "I've absorbed too much of you over the years anyways. A normal cat spirit would have you mounting all of those girls panting after us, but you've made me just like you. I only want kittens with the one. Although a little resistance can be fun, I want her to let us mount her more than once. And I want her to keep greeting us with the good scratchies."

"I'm both disturbed, and disturbed that I'm not more disturbed by what you just said," Ranma said slowly. "But okay, so we're on the same page about Akane, mostly. But you gotta promise not to make me kill someone. I'm serious."

"But if they threaten our," he began mulishly, but Ranma interrupted.

"Then we threaten back, or beat them up, knock them unconscious, break their bones, or maim them. Only if all of that doesn't work do we think about killing someone," Ranma said.

The tail lashed back and forth again before the doppelganger sullenly responded, "Fine." Then his face got very serious as he looked straight into Ranma's eyes. "But what about other demons?"

"Well," Ranma began slowly, "first we try to capture and exorcise the demon, if possible. Just like tonight. The demon host is usually innocent, and they don't deserve to be hurt if we can avoid it. But," Ranma paused and looked up at the cloudy sky for a moment. "But if that doesn't work, and it is a threat, then we will eliminate it, whatever it takes."

"Whatever it takes," his feline double asked, stalking closer and circling around Ranma. "Do you promise?"

Ranma hesitated for a moment, but with all of his other stipulations, he didn't see how it could hurt. "Yes, whatever it takes," he promised.

Suddenly the doppelganger threw a companionable arm around Ranma's shoulders and said, "I'll try to be less pushy, but you gotta get me outta here more often, man, or I'll start busting out more myself. And seriously, let us at least touch Akane a little more, huh?"

Ranma sent him a suspicious glare out of the corner of his eye, but before he could say anything else, his doppelganger pushed him, hard. Ranma sprawled forward onto his face. When he sat up, spitting out grass, he found himself back in the park, his backpack sitting on the ground in front of him lit by moonlight.

When Ranma got back to the dojo, he let his Pops and Kasumi know he was home as he passed the living room. They were watching some drama on TV. It looked like it focused on Hockey players, with the lead being played by one of those singers Nabiki liked to hang pictures of in her room, Kimu-something.

"I left a plate of dinner for you on the kitchen counter," Kasumi said without looking away from the drama on the screen.

"Thanks," he said. "I'll get it later."

But first, he just had to check in on Akane. It was a compulsion. Then, despite the promises from his cat side, he had to stay away from her for a while until he was sure that he really did have himself under control.

Tapping very lightly on her door, as he didn't want to wake her if she was sleeping, Ranma heard her voice call out a few seconds later, "Come in!"

"Hey Akane," he replied as he opened the door and stepped inside. He wanted to just stop and drink in the sight of her sitting at her desk, twisted towards him with a welcoming smile on her face. Another, likely feline, part of him wanted to walk forward, bury his hand in the hair behind her neck, pull her up until she was clenching her fingernails into his shoulders to keep her balance, and kiss her hello. Obviously he couldn't trust himself right now, so instead he looked down and unzipped his backpack.

"I got something for ya'," he said, pulling out the Grapefruit Gokuri and tossing it to her. "Catch."

Pleasure blossomed on Akane's face as she saw what she'd caught. "I didn't realize they'd released this flavor yet. Thanks Ranma."

"Sure, no problem," he said, leaning against the wall and tucking his hands behind his back before they could get up to some mischief, like tucking that loose strand of hair back behind the shell of her ear.

"Oh," Akane said, biting her lip as she put her juice down on the desk. "How did the exorcism end up going?"

"Piece of cake," Ranma answered blithely. "It just took forever for Gosunkugi to remember what he'd done and how to undo it. But the demon's gone now, and the girl got safely walked home by Jun, who wants to sweep in to be the new boyfriend, I think, but I find it a lot more likely that she'll swear off all men, especially those from Furinkan, instead of falling for his knight-in-shining-armor routine."

Akane sighed. "Well, I can't really blame her. No one got hurt then?"

Ranma flashed on an image of his glowing fist speeding towards frightened green eyes before he was able to blink it away. "Nah, we all came out of it without a scratch. Testu got knocked out for a bit by leftover sleeping powder, but once he woke up he was fine."

"Well," she said, "thank goodness for that." Then she hesitated a second before blurting out, "I'm sorry again that I couldn't stay and help."

"Nah, don't worry about it. We handled it just fine and you did the hard part, getting her all trussed up for us like a present," Ranma replied. "Speaking of which, how did you get Kodachi to agree to help us out? We finally recognized where the ribbon and sleeping powder came from."

Akane laughed, "She didn't know she was helping. I tricked the girl into going into the Ribbon and Bow club meeting without an invitation. They were doing some mandatory collaborative project with St. Hebereke's, which of course meant Kodachi since ribbons and competition were involved. Those things always turn into brawls, so I just sent her in and let Kodachi and her minions do all the rest on their own. Then I collected the leftovers from the hallway and brought them to you. Presto!"

"Sneaky," he said approvingly. "I like it."

Akane blushed and grinned up at him. Before he knew what was happening, he'd taken two steps forward and was tucking that strand of hair back behind her ear. Her skin was soft, her hair cool and silky, and he wanted the intimate feel of it sliding strand by strand between his fingers to linger forever, except that Akane's eyes had gotten huge and he could hear Mr. Tendo coming up the staircase and he wanted to do things that were all him and not his feline side but were still pretty animalistic and there wasn't any time. Forcing himself to step back, Ranma closed his fingers into a fist to preserve the feel of her and whispered, "Night, 'Kane," before retreating to his room.

00000000000000000

Before things could get awkward on Saturday, Happosai came to visit. He stayed until Sunday night, throwing the whole house into a frenzy, as usual, before he disappeared to parts unknown. Ranma was so busy he didn't have time to even think about being awkward around Akane.

When Gosunkugi didn't return to school on Monday, the D&D club cornered Ranma again at lunch and this time, begged Ranma to get Gosunkugi back. The family of the girl, Toriko Takeda, had kidnapped him and strung him up in their basement over the weekend. It was no less than Gosunkugi deserved, Ranma thought privately, but the D&D club put up a passionate argument. They needed Gosunkugi's wizard to defeat the final boss in their ongoing D&D quest on Wednesday.

Although he'd never tell anyone, Ranma briefly felt tempted to join the club himself after Jun and Ren described with great enthusiasm and detail their last epic battle against evil. All of those fights and crazy monsters sounded pretty fun, the pictures in those books had been pretty cool, and these guys weren't so bad once you got to know them. But if he had the choice of actual fighting over fake fighting on paper, he'd always choose the fight involving real sweat and blood and tears (preferably his opponent's).

Nevertheless, he decided to take pity on Gosunkugi and went to rescue him after school. In the end, it took the help of Kodachi Kuno _again_, who knew the house layout and location because she regularly bought flower clippings from the girl's mother. The deliveries had stopped while the family was "dealing" with Gosunkugi, and Kodachi had something brewing that needed one of their flowers urgently. He'd run into her outside their house.

Luckily she was annoyed enough to help Ranma out. He didn't even have to promise her a date or anything. (Of course, he also did all of his negotiating as a female and acted too dumb to understand her questions and threats about boy-Ranma. He also used his newly enhanced feline agility to avoid her attempts to douse him with sleeping powder and a full-body hug when an accident with a broken water pipe revealed her "darling Ranma" and the 'strange' disappearance of that "conniving tramp" Ranko.)

All in all, if you ignored his near loss of control, it turned out to be a normal week in the life of Ranma Saotome. The only difference was the absence of Akane. She hadn't stayed for the exorcism or come with him to rescue Gosunkugi. She had to stay after school to help out with that stupid committee which was suddenly taking up all of her time. Sure, it was an easy rescue, but he still missed having Akane there.

Normally, she was forcing him to take her along, especially if it was dangerous or someone needed saving. Nowadays he only put up a token resistance before giving in. Not having her as backup was surprisingly disconcerting.

The entire rescue he'd kept turning to say something to Akane, or to ask her to do something, only to remember that she wasn't there. He'd even accidentally called Kodachi "Akane" at one point, which had NOT gone down well with the psycho Kuno. Needless to say, Kodachi had not tossed him the rope that would have saved him from a dip in the pit of saber tooth fish. Ranma hated water even more now than he had before Okinawa, if that was possible. He'd hissed at her angrily and bared his fangs, er teeth, but somehow it only seemed to excite Kodachi. She'd thrown one of her ribbons then to help Ranma out, but it hadn't been worth getting that close to her, especially as a guy.

Things would have been better with Akane there. Not that he _needed_ Akane's help. He just liked having it, that's all.

* * *

Akane still felt horribly guilty, even a week later. She had made Ranma go and rescue Gosunkugi on his own last week. The only way she could feel any worse was if he'd managed to hurt himself without her there to watch out for him. Luckily, he'd made it home safely with only a few strange bite marks that had healed quickly. However, he'd had to team up with that nut Kodachi Kuno to go get Gosunkugi out. Akane just hoped he could eventually forgive her for abandoning him to Kodachi's tender mercies.

Although Akane couldn't help but intervene when things were happening at school (and thank goodness she had considering Ranma almost got his head chopped off by that razor-sharp bow), her side still felt too tender for the gymnastics required for a basement rescue. Almost two years of craziness had given her enough experience with sneaking into people's secret lairs and basements that she could calculate exactly what was physically involved. If something went wrong and she couldn't move fast enough because of her side, either she or someone else could get seriously hurt. Staying back was the only option, no matter how much she hated it.

On their first day back at school, Akane had volunteered for an after school committee. The unpredictable schedule of committee meetings gave her a lot of excuses to avoid both Ranma and physical competitions while her side healed. If she sometimes lied about having a meeting, no one had noticed yet. At those times she either did low-impact exercises or read the self-help books she kept sneaking from Kasumi's room. The collection Kasumi had amassed explained a lot about her Zen aura in the face of their crazy household.

Of course, to add to the weirdness of her life, Akane had started having dreams and nightmares about being in the cat fist. Not every night, but several times a week. Sometimes they were silly dreams where she pounced on wind-pushed plastic bags and wiggly toes, and had fun racing down the street after mice and other cats.

But other dreams were awful, like being terrified of cats and running away, only to be caught and forced into becoming something else. Or when she'd been strapped with so many fish sausages that the smell had made her gag, and then she'd been pushed into a dark pit. Landing had hurt, but the scratching, clawing, biting, screeching cats swarming over her body had been worse. She had no idea how she'd kept herself from screaming the house down with that one.

Sometimes after the bad dreams, she wanted to go and crawl into Ranma's futon and steal a little comfort. But she didn't want him to know what had upset her. It would hurt him to know that he was the star of her nightmares, and Akane didn't want Ranma hurt. Not unless she was hurting him on purpose, that is. Focusing on not worrying Ranma, she would dry her tears and focus on slowing her breathing.

She couldn't go to her father for comfort either. He was useless at things like this, and would just unintentionally make her feel worse. Horrible experience had taught her that.

At those times, in the dark of her room feeling at her lowest, Akane sometimes felt like something unseen was in the room with her, sending her comfort and promising to keep her secrets, promising to keep her safe. Something warm and soft would cuddle up against her back with a soothing rumble, and somehow Akane would fall back to sleep. She'd wake up from those terrible dreams about the cat fist, but then fall asleep to imaginary purring. It sounded crazy when she thought about it. Akane was really hoping that something in one of Kasumi's books would help with the nightmares and strange feelings. Otherwise, she might be hallucinating or going crazy.

Being lonely probably wasn't helping. Akane missed hanging out with Ranma. Sure she was avoiding him for a little while, but every once in a while it almost seemed like Ranma was avoiding her too. She didn't have any other explanation for his sudden intense interest in meditation or leaving to go and practice insanely complex katas almost every time she came into a room.

He kept acting oddly in other ways too. He'd either refuse to meet her eyes or even look at her, or else he would give her such penetrating stares that she felt stripped and catalogued and _claimed_. Somehow, she got the feeling that he didn't realize that he was doing it either. The distance and oddness helped her keep her secret, but it was lonely and weird.

Today, she had her part-time job helping out at Dr. Tofu's practice. Although they'd gotten back from their trip a couple of weeks ago, she'd been too busy with her added school commitments to come in until now. Luckily the work Dr. Tofu had for her this month was pretty flexible. Before she'd left on her trip, she had made sure to put in some extra hours to get ahead.

In addition to having Akane clean his offices and do some heavy lifting, lately Dr. Tofu had given Akane some of his filing and administrative work to do as well. He knew she planned on running the dojo one day. She suspected that was part of the reason he was also teaching her how to keep records, do billing, file official paperwork, and all in all, run a successful small business. He never let her make the tea or coffee in the waiting room though, which was unfair. She had gotten good at tea!

As Akane swept the steps in front of Dr. Tofu's office, she smiled to herself at the odd sight of Mousse and Dr. Tofu playing shogi inside. After bonding over the frustrations of spectacles and making fools of themselves in front of the women they loved, a friendship had sprung up between Dr. Tofu and Mousse. They seemed to have a steadying influence on each other. Neither had yet won the woman they loved, but both of them seemed to be making progress. Akane had seen Shampoo watching Mousse with a speculative eye when he wasn't looking.

As for Kasumi, she slowly began borrowing books from Dr. Tofu again and coming over for tea, something she had stopped doing last year. Since Kasumi and Dr. Tofu were two of the people she respected most in the world, she really hoped they could find happiness with each other. They deserved to be happy. She wouldn't mind Mousse taking Shampoo away either.

Idly she tried to picture her own future. The possibilities were too jumbled for her to get a clear picture though. She resolutely refused to think about the state of her spirit, any possessions thereof, or how that might affect her longevity. However, she could almost picture being happily married to Ranma and teaching together with him at their dojo. Though with all of the obstacles in their way, maybe their marriage would never happen, and she'd have to get over thinking about him all of the time.

If Ranma did run off with one of his hussies, and she didn't end up in prison for murdering him, and if Kasumi married someone else, and Dr. Tofu got over his crush on her sister and realized that Akane wasn't a child anymore and actually tried to court her, Akane would probably be able to fall in love with him again. Of course, he'd never need her as much as Ranma did, and he'd probably never make her as happy as Ranma could.

Grimacing, Akane swept harder.

She acknowledged that Ranma was the black hole her life currently orbited around. All of her thoughts, emotions, and attention swirled around Ranma. She couldn't escape his gravity, and at this point wasn't sure she wanted to. Either the experience would transport her through the wormhole to somewhere wonderful, or else she'd become stretched so thin she'd exist in a limbo of unhappiness and discontent for the rest of her life.

_Stop being so melodramatic!_ Akane told herself as she glared at the steps, ignored the creaking of the broom handle and snapping bristles, and swept faster. S_top daydreaming about Ranma in physics class, and start paying more attention to the actual lecture. Honestly!_

"Um, Akane," Dr. Tofu said hesitantly, "I think the steps are clean enough. If you keep sweeping like that, you'll break the broom and wear away the rock!"

"Oh, Dr. Tofu!" Akane exclaimed with a startled jump. "I'm sorry." Grimacing, she started to put a hand to her jostled stitches for a split second before forcing her face smooth and dropping her hand.

Tilting his head so that the sunlight glinted opaquely off the surface of his glasses, Dr. Tofu said, "Why don't you put away the broom and come and help me in my office."

Akane followed him inside. "What can I help you with?" she asked.

"Well," Dr. Tofu said as he leaned back against his desk and smiled softly, "since it is just you, me, and Betty the skeleton in here right now, I was hoping you could tell me what's wrong with your side."

"Um," Akane replied intelligently. Although she'd told the monks that she'd get her doctor to look at her stitches, she'd hoped she could get by without it. Denial of the whole experience was working out pretty well for her, except for the occasional nightmare. Would he go for the menstrual cramps explanation?

Radiating calm and trustworthiness, Dr. Tofu continued, "You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, but I hope you know that I'm here to help you in any way I can. You can trust me, Akane."

"I know I can," Akane assured him. "It's just… I, well," she fumbled, hesitated, but then continued after carefully choosing her words. "On my recent trip to Okinawa, Ranma and I ended up in the middle of a kidnapping. We managed to get out just fine. My side got a little cut during our escape, but I'm fine." Akane flushed guiltily, "Ranma doesn't know about it. He just thinks I got sick from spending the night outside in wet clothes."

Dr. Tofu let the silence go on for a minute in case she had anything more to add, then he said, "Thank you for telling me, Akane. I won't betray your secret. Why don't you hop up here onto the table and let me have a look at how it is healing up."

Akane hopped up onto the exam table and rolled up her shirt, exposing the bandages. Dr. Tofu pulled on a pair of gloves before he deftly unwrapped the cloth, not pausing to comment on the size and severity of her "little cut," which she appreciated. Tilting his head, he ran his fingers carefully down the wound, and then gently palpitated her abdomen and side. "Hmm," he hummed absently. "You say this happened recently?" he asked.

"Well, a couple of weeks ago," she replied. "Is there a problem?"

Dr. Tofu cleaned the jagged wound off with a little soap and water. He then turned away to pull open the middle drawer of the medicine cabinet, his hand wavering before he decided on a jar of ointment to pull out. After shutting the drawer, he turned back and finally answered her question as he began dabbing the ointment on top of her stitches. "No, no, I just would have guessed that you received this at least a month ago, based on the level of healing I'm seeing. How extraordinary. Good for you!"

He smiled at her and closed up the jar. "Now, are you experiencing any other problems, like an unexpected level of pain or foul smelling discharge from the wound?" When she shook her head no, he marked something on a chart in illegible handwriting and asked, "When was your last menstrual cycle?"

Akane blushed and checked the calendar. "Um, a little over 5 weeks ago?" she answered without meeting his eyes. "I've been so busy I hadn't really thought about it, but maybe I skipped this month because of the stress? That's happened before."

"Well, that's perfectly normal, especially for an active girl like you. I wouldn't worry about it too much unless you have reason to suspect something. Stress or illness can often cause a woman to skip a cycle, as you know. Just keep an eye on it, and let me know if you have any concerns or if your cycle doesn't resume."

Dr. Tofu made a few more notes in her chart and then asked, "Any bloating, constipation, or diarrhea? They could indicate damage to the bowel."

"No, I've been regular," she mumbled with another blush. Talking with him as a patient was sometimes so embarrassing! "The only problems I have with my side are a little throbbing and tenderness, especially when I move suddenly or try to do much," she replied. "But it hasn't even bled in almost a week, so it hasn't been too bad."

Pulling out a new roll of bandages, he wrapped up Akane's side. "Well, let me know if it does get bad, or even just inconvenient," Dr. Tofu said. "The stitches should finish dissolving soon. Take some over the counter painkillers for the aching in the meantime if you need to. I'll want to check up on it again next week, please. Take this ointment with you and apply it twice a day until then."

Dr. Tofu took off his gloves and went to the sink to wash his hands. Rolling down her shirt, Akane thanked him and stashed the ointment in her bag. Fiddling with her strap, Akane couldn't make herself look up as she hesitantly asked, "Dr. Tofu? Will the ointment keep the cut from scarring?"

A warm hand squeezed her shoulder once and then let go as Dr. Tofu answered compassionately, "The jagged size and shape of your wound was complicated by what looks like blunt force trauma and infection. Clean, straight cuts tend to leave the least scarring. To work best, the ointment also needs to be used before a cut fully closes. I'm sorry, but the wound has already started to heal unevenly. If you use the ointment twice a day, it will minimize the scarring, but there's no way short of plastic surgery to get rid of the scar completely."

Patting her shoulder again, he said, "You are a beautiful girl, Akane, inside and out. No one will ever think less of you because of a little scar."

Akane sent him a slightly watery smile before retreating to the reception room to water the plants and regain her composure. She hadn't realized how vain she was about her body, but her wound was _ugly_. The scar would probably be ugly too. She didn't want it, but it looked like she didn't have a choice. As long as she was healthy, she should be content. But Akane wanted to be pretty and _normal_ looking too, not just healthy. She didn't want children pointing at her in the public bath, or classmates making up stories. Thank goodness she didn't have PE this semester. At least she could avoid talk in the locker room.

_Oh calm down,_ she told herself, _you have other little scars, even if nothing this big._ Besides, she couldn't regret protecting herself and Ranma from those men, could she? A scar was just a badge of survival, right?

Akane thought of when she'd met Mariko on the island, and seen the scars crisscrossing the older woman's torso. Wiping dust off the leaves of the bonsai tree on the desk, Akane told herself firmly to stop being a teenage drama queen. Scars had made Akane admire Mariko all the more. She needed to stop feeling sorry for herself and take pride in her strength instead.

Someone would eventually see the scar, but she could decide what she wanted to tell people later. She had time. However, she didn't have forever. Eventually her sisters would find out, and then inevitably Ranma too. Until she decided on a story, she would just have to practice hiding the scar in the bath with her arm until the motion became natural. She'd also have to practice being proud of the scar instead of ashamed. But she could do it! Putting away the cleaning supplies, Akane grabbed her bag, wrapped her scarf around her neck, and wished Dr. Tofu goodbye.

"Have a good evening," he replied. Looking into her eyes he said very earnestly, "Thank you for trusting me to help you." Even though she was over him, Akane couldn't help but blush. He was still so handsome.

Then Dr. Tofu asked, "Is there a reason you haven't told anyone about getting hurt? You might need someone else to talk to about it, since talking can help. I'm sure no one would think less of you."

"Oh yes they would," Akane retorted. "Daddy would flip out, restrict me from everything, and get way too overprotective. He'd also start crying all of the time again, and we just barely got him calmed down a bit over Nabiki leaving." She paused and took a deep breath. "Plus, Ranma would stop treating me like an equal and would start trying to keep me back from fights again. I have earned my place as a martial artist in this town, but if Ranma and the other girls find out I'm hurt, they'll either treat me as weak or else they'll take advantage of the fact to get me out of the way for good."

Dr. Tofu blinked in a bit of shock at her diatribe. Akane felt herself flush, but didn't take back her words. Besides, the other thing she couldn't say was that if she told the first part of it, she'd have to talk about the second part with the pearls and stuff. Ranma would keep digging and digging at her until she did, especially once he found out she'd concealed something this big in the first place, and she wasn't supposed to talk about that stuff.

She didn't want to. If she had her way, she'd prefer to just forget that it had ever happened. A small voice in her head reminded her that Dr. Tofu could be trusted, that he was an expert in spiritual manipulation, but it was drown out by a new surge of fear and disgust as her mind flashed on the face of her would-be rapist looming over her and the female monk mentioning her spirit's disintegration of it got poked at too much. Akane bit her tongue and kept silent.

"Well," Dr. Tofu finally said with a soft smile, "I can see you've made up your mind. But please remember that I'm always here for a chat if you need me."

"Thanks," she replied quietly, gave him a smile and bow in return, and left the office.

As she walked home, Akane hummed a song her mother used to sing around the house in the mornings. That song always made Akane feel better, and she needed to feel better right now. When she was able to smile almost naturally again, Akane told herself to start enjoying the last gasp of color in the autumn leaves as she walked. They really were beautiful along this street, with several crimson maples flaming high into the sky, plumage only partially denuded by the encroaching winter winds.

When Akane got home, she found Kasumi talking on the phone. "Oh, here she is," said Kasumi as she beckoned Akane over. "Phone's for you," Kasumi explained as she held her hand over the receiver. Curious and slightly wary, Akane took the phone and said hello. A few seconds later, she relaxed. Yuka was having a sleepover that weekend and was demanding that Akane attend. She probably just wanted to gush to Akane and Sayuri all about her new boyfriend. However, Yuka was also bribing them to come with promises of listening to her new Jpop CD, practicing make-overs and manicures, testing if Sayuri could finally beat Yuka's high score in Tetris, and baking brownies (Yuka and Sayuri ONLY) while Akane WATCHED from a distance and cuddled Yuka's cat without hysterical finger-pointing by haters/Ranma. Smiling at the thought of relaxing with her friends, even if they wouldn't let her help bake anything, Akane agreed to the date and hung up the phone.

TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

AN: This got way, way longer than I intended. The next chapter will probably be a lot shorter. The Tofu scene was at the end, but then all of these other things kept elbowing their way in before it, driving me nuts! But I promised the Tofu, so I wanted to deliver. Next time, Ranma runs into a cat and notices a difference in the cat fist. So, swallowing his pride, Ranma goes to Akane and asks for her help, since he knows he can trust her with his secrets. Akane accidently mentions one of her secrets too, but Ranma is too focused on his own problems to notice.

Please let me know your thoughts and speculations! I've really been enjoying them! And did you catch the two shows I referenced in this chapter? Hint: one is an anime starting with an R and the other a live-action drama starting with a P.

Best!

Indygodusk


	24. Gluttony and a Cat Chat

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and its characters do not belong to me.

AN: Sorry for the delayed update. The Olympics have been consuming my evenings, and I'm moving in a week so I've been packing. Oh, the shows referenced in the last chapter were the anime/manga Rurouni Kenshin and the J-drama "Pride" (even though Pride was in the 2004. But it had the Queen song 'I was born to Love You' as the theme, so my temporal caring went off line when I referenced it). I also mildly edited the last chapter to take out cell phones and make Kodachi's school more canon-compliant (whoops).

* * *

**No more pussyfooting around**: a Ranma ½ fanfic

By Indygodusk

* * *

**Chapter 24: Gluttony and a Cat Chat**

_When Akane got home, she found Kasumi talking on the phone. "Oh, here she is," said Kasumi as she beckoned Akane over. "Phone's for you," Kasumi explained as she held her hand over the receiver. Curious and slightly wary, Akane took the phone and said hello. A few seconds later, she relaxed. Yuka was having a sleepover that weekend and was demanding that Akane attend. She probably just wanted to gush to Akane and Sayuri all about her new boyfriend. However, Yuka was also bribing them to come with promises of listening to her new Jpop CD, practicing make-overs and manicures, testing if Sayuri could finally beat Yuka's high score in Tetris, and baking brownies (Yuka and Sayuri ONLY) while Akane WATCHED from a distance and cuddled Yuka's cat without hysterical finger-pointing by haters/Ranma. Smiling at the thought of relaxing with her friends, even if they wouldn't let her help bake anything, Akane agreed to the date and hung up the phone._

* * *

Over the next few weeks, Ranma worked on his control. His emotions and reactions definitely felt different since Okinawa, but after over a month of practice Ranma felt like he mostly had a handle on it. The cord between Akane and his Ki got easier to access as he practiced Martial Arts Geometry, but the strength of it still fluctuated unpredictably, as did any information but location and a sense of general well-being. Ranma had felt that feeling of being watched a few more times when he accessed it, but it never stayed long enough for him to figure it out.

Ranma just hoped it didn't have anything to do with what that crazy demon girlfriend of Gosunkugi's had said. Unfortunately, Ranma had too many immediate problems to worry about the vague ones right now. He'd focus on figuring it out later, as soon as he defeated his latest challenger, managed to graduate from High School, and got Akane to agree to marry him of her own free will.

If he didn't know better, he'd say Akane was avoiding him lately just as much as he'd been sort of avoiding her, but that didn't make sense. She didn't seem mad. She wasn't hitting him more than usual, and she hadn't broken any bricks in weeks.

He hoped she wasn't avoiding him because she'd noticed him avoiding her. Since his control had been shaky, he'd been trying to distance himself from her just in case. After all, he was a man, not some animal unable to control his impulses. Nevertheless, sometimes he forgot and did things that might be a little abnormal for him in the past. _Could she have noticed that? Was she weirded out by him now?_

Ever since they'd gotten back from Okinawa, he'd been struggling with the urge to touch her all the time. Sometimes he gave in, and would let himself brush against her arm at dinner. Once or twice he'd even sat at the foot of her chair while she worked at her desk, just so he could lean back and feel the heat of her legs against his back and side while he did his homework. He knew the cat part of him was to blame for some of it. But part of it was Ranma giving in to his own impulses as well. He kept trying to find excuses to casually touch her even when he shouldn't.

_But Akane let him!_ He wasn't quite sure why yet. Ranma didn't want to get his hopes up, so he mostly wasn't thinking about the why.

It wasn't like he was touching her every day or anything though, because he didn't get to see her very much lately. She kept disappearing into her room with the door closed, or to some school meeting, or to a friend's house, and he'd barely see her for days except during meals and classes. Akane was involved in a lot of school activities and was popular with the other students. He couldn't expect to be the focus of her attention all the time, even if he selfishly wanted to be. He tried not to worry too much about it, but it was hard not to take her absence personally.

_Especially when she was keeping secrets._

One day, they were lounging in the living room watching TV with everyone when Akane got a phone call. "Hello, Tendo dojo." Akane said into the phone. "Yes, this is Akane." Then her back got stiff and she turned away from the living room, walking around the corner out of sight as far as the cord would allow. Ranma casually leaned back and tilted his head to better hear the conversation. He wished he could just lurk on the other side of the corner, but everyone else in the room would then try to eavesdrop too, and the noise would either give him away or cover up anything she said.

He knew this from experience.

"You were supposed to come and visit weeks ago!" Akane hissed into the phone. "Where are you?"

_Just who was she talking to that was supposed to come and visit, and why was it a secret? Was it a guy?_ _Another long lost friend that was madly in love with her? It better not be._ Ranma felt a cold knot start to tighten in his belly.

There was silence for a few moments as the other person spoke, and then Akane said, "What! What did you do to get locked up!?" When the other person answered, Akane gasped and then laughed. "Wow, okay, yeah that would do it."

Now Ranma was burning up with curiosity. _Did locked up mean sent to their room by angry parents, or thrown in jail for committing a crime?_ _Just _whois_ she talking to?_

Then Akane replied, "Well, yes, I'm fine and nothing has happened yet, but this one girl who was possessed said-," and Akane's words cut off as if interrupted. "But-, well no, I haven't mentioned it to anyone but-," she sighed unhappily. "Yes, okay… I know, okay?"

Ranma really wished he knew who she was talking to. And just what did Gosunkugi's demon-possessed girlfriend say to her? Was it anything like what she'd said to him? Ranma really hoped not. Akane didn't deserve to hear crap like that. Maybe if he pretended to go to the bathroom, he could run up and get on the extension still in Nabiki's room. You could totally pick that phone up without any betraying clicks. He shoulda thought of it earlier.

Stretching his arms, he mumbled something about being right back and strolled out of the room towards the stairs. No one bothered to glance away from the drama on the TV screen. Glancing back surreptitiously, he saw Akane rubbing her forehead with the hand not holding the phone.

"I will," she said quietly, then, "No, I do appreciate you helping me out. I know you're trying. Good luck on getting out, and on your travels, but maybe try to avoid the frat parties next time?"

Ranma couldn't hear anything else as he ran up the stairs and into Nabiki's room. But then he oh so carefully picked up the extension and placed it to his ear. The call was noisy, with the sound of multiple people talking, phones ringing, and a strange clanking in the background. An almost familiar female voice was saying, "-lax and enjoy being a high schooler for a few more months. Go flirt with some guys. Get your parents to pay for stuff and have fun with your friends."

"I'm working on it," Akane replied in a snappy, surly tone as Ranma struggled to place the voice. "But I don't like having this hanging over my head. If you find out anything, or if there's something I can do to help, please let me know as soon as you can."

_Just what was hanging over Akane's head? Could it be as simple as something with school, or was there a more sinister explanation?_

"I will," the other voice soothed. "I know this is taking longer than we expected, but I won't give up until I have answers for you, alright?"

"Alright," Akane answered quietly, no longer sounding angry, just tired and slightly defeated.

"If I don't have anything by summer, I'll come and see you one way or another, but I honestly don't think it will take that long. They'll let me outta here in a few more hours and then I'll catch the train north. There's a library in a temple up there that should have the answers we need. Stay positive, okay?"

"I'll try," Akane said. "Take care of yourself."

"I always do. Bye," said the other woman on the phone. She sounded like an older woman to Ranma, but he still had no idea who she was.

"Goodbye," Akane sighed as the woman hung up the phone. Then she hung up too.

Ranma was still in the dark. Some woman was looking for something for Akane, and was taking too long to find it. _But what were they looking for, and why was it such a secret?_

Hanging up the phone extension, Ranma went into his room and grabbed his history book as an excuse for why he'd been lingering upstairs. It took him a minute to figure out where he'd thrown it after he'd gotten bored of reading it earlier. Finally, he discovered it under a pile of dirty clothes. Now armed with an excuse, Ranma went back downstairs.

When he reached the living room though, Akane wasn't there. "Where'd Akane go?" he asked as he glanced around.

Mr. Tendo glanced over to reply, "Her friend needed her to look something up for school tomorrow, so she's up in her room."

She must have gone by him when he was looking for the stupid book. And he'd been planning on grilling her about that phone call, darn it. Annoyed, he dropped back down onto the floor and decided to just keep watching TV with everyone else, his book forgotten. The next morning Akane, left early for a school committee again, so he couldn't question her at breakfast.

For the next few weeks, things got pretty busy. While chasing after his Pops, Ranma got sucked into a cool tournament centering on Ki-only snow manipulation, basically a snowball fight that made throwing snow with either your hands or feet illegal. Then right after that finished up, he had to help out with a challenge over at Ukyo's for a while. Mostly he was backup and helped stock vegetable bins and clean tables, since his cooking wasn't up to Ukyo's standards, no matter how much she might like him otherwise. Since Akane never seemed to come home from one boring school thing after another anyways, Ranma stopped spending much time at home beyond sleeping and gulping down meals.

Ranma didn't get to see Ukyo as much since she'd dropped out of High School to focus on expanding her restaurant business. Although he hadn't told anyone that he'd picked Akane, he felt particularly bad about Ukyo. She was his oldest friend. Sometimes, he even thought she was Akane's friend too when he wasn't in the picture. He just hoped Ukyo would forgive him when she finally found out who he'd chosen, who he always had and always would choose.

For now though, he was trying to help her out as much as he could, especially since there was no Akane at the house to hang out with. It was good to see Ukyo so happy with her business though. Ukyo deserved to be happy.

Although Ranma did his best to stay busy and distracted, he couldn't help missing Akane. He refused to admit that he was moping, but he did occasionally have horrible thoughts about her not missing him at all that made him want to wipe the dust from his eyes and break things. And there may have been an accidental _shishi h__ō__k__ō__dan_ in the middle of the park that had flattened a few trees and created a small crater, but whatever. No one had seen it so, if a tree falls from a depression Ki blast in the forest and there are no witnesses, it makes no sound and didn't happen.

When Akane was home, she always sat somewhere with enough space for him to sit with her, and she always greeted him with a smile. It was something, but Ranma wanted more from her. Much more.

Stuffing his face one dinner evening with Kasumi's heavenly cuisine, Ranma acknowledged to himself that he was a glutton. As with most things about himself, he wasn't ashamed of it. He didn't do diets if he could help it. There weren't many things he wanted for himself, but when it came to food, martial arts, and Akane, he wanted as much as he could get, as often as he could get it, and right now, the Akane-craving part of him was starving.

One of his favorite fantasies started with eating a glorious meal of takeout (because no fantasy starting with Akane's cooking was a good one), and then getting into a fight at the table with Akane, where they sparred verbally, trading teasing words, and then physically, with both flying food and flying fists, and then she tumbled down onto the cushions and he tumbled down after her and they both ended up laughing hard. The laughter would fade as they stared intently into each other's eyes. And then he'd impulsively lick a bit of sauce off of Akane's cheek, and she would reclaim the sauce back from his mouth with her tongue, and then they'd wrestle until he was forced to hold her down. She'd squirm a little bit, but soon be moaning his name and arching into his touch as he made a feast out of every inch of her luscious body until she was stuffed and he was glutted and they both passed out from glorious exhaustion.

Shifting so his lap was a little more hidden under the kotatsu blanketing the table, just in case, Ranma jerked his mind back to the well-cooked meal and the inane conversation about local politics until he could calm down. Several more weeks passed uneventfully. Then suddenly, Ranma had more on his plate to worry about than just the absence of Akane.

Ranma ran into a _cat_.

It was a Saturday, and Akane had disappeared to another unimportant, unnecessary school thing. Ranma really hated all those school things. Both Dads had gone out somewhere for the day too, probably to play pachinko. Ranma was _bored_.

So he wandered in the direction of the Neko Hanten in hopes of stirring up some trouble. Maybe he could catch Mousse or Shampoo on break, or even the old Ghoul, and convince them to do some sparring. If he was lucky, maybe they'd teach him a new Chinese trick or two.

Cheered at the thought, he jogged around to the back of the restaurant and hopped up onto the fence. Looking down, he saw Mousse scratching his head sheepishly with an empty bucket dangling from one hand. He said something in Chinese that steamed in the cold air. Ranma translated it as, "_sorry (something something) Xianpu._" Ranma's understanding of Chinese wasn't great despite travelling there several times. Seconds later, a dripping, bedraggled cat stepped daintily out from behind a box, hopped up onto the plywood laid on the top of it, shook the water violently off her fur, and then hissed at Mousse angrily.

Ranma flinched, and both heads, feline and bespectacled, turned his way at the movement. His muscles tensed to flee in terror of the _cat_. But suddenly, a foreign feeling of glee bubbled up from somewhere. A split second later, his awareness was sucked down in a whirlpool and he felt twirled about until his thoughts tumbled over and stuck, dangling as if entrapped in a cocoon of spiders silk. Part of him saw the backyard below, and part of him saw himself hanging in a net suspended from a tree in a familiar courtyard. He couldn't move or speak, only watch dimly in shock and horror as his body crouched down and then leapt towards, instead of away from, Shampoo's cat form.

None of the watchers, including him, seemed to expect his body to land on the end of a dangling board, flipping up the other side and launching Shampoo-cat high into the sky. Giving a feline yowl of triumph, his body then turned and leapt away. Easily hopping up over the fence, he trotted down the alleyway. An enraged howl sounded behind him as Shampoo-cat reappeared on the roof of the building behind him and gave chase. His body looked back over his shoulder, gave a feline laugh, and then picked up speed. They then spent the next hour playing chase together and hunting down random bits of windblown paper.

Despite his best efforts, Ranma couldn't seem to take back control of his body. It was obviously the cat fist, but like never before. He'd never slipped into it so quickly before, nor had he ever actually been aware during it.

After a few minutes, Ranma decided give the other guy a chance (since he didn't seem to have a choice). He forced his mind to relax and just observed from the inside what must be his body with the cat fist in charge. _Let the other guy stretch his legs a little and see if he can be trusted with it, _he told himself.

As soon as he stopped straining, he began to sense his cat side's emotions too. They were pretty simple: fun, hungry, hunt, and chase! Ranma-cat delighted in the hunt, even if it wasn't for food or fighting, just for fun. He loved the feel of the wind in the fur on his head as he swerved around obstacles and scrambled over walls and buildings.

A few times it became difficult to separate the emotions of cat fist Ranma from human Ranma. Like when he missed having a tail. At first it seemed completely reasonable, and then Ranma had to remind himself that he was grateful that he didn't grow a tail during the cat fist, because that would be ridiculous and cause even more problems. He didn't need to be even more of a freak.

They finally circled back to the Neko Hanten, and Shampoo-cat invited him inside with a curve of her body and flick of her tail. Curious, hungry, and slightly cold despite the running around, Ranma-cat followed her into the kitchen. Shampoo-cat jumped up onto the sink, batted the hot water faucet on, and splashed herself with one paw. Wary, he stayed out of reach of the spray. Ranma-cat wasn't ready to stop having fun yet.

Human once again, Shampoo grabbed a dress from a nearby shelf and slipped it on. Then she grabbed a bowl and filled it with pieces of fish. She might have said something, but Ranma-cat didn't really notice or care, so Ranma's human awareness had trouble caring either. Those fish smelled good.

Ranma-cat butted up against her thigh and reached for the bowl with his teeth, but she lifted it higher and hip-checked him back hard enough to send him crashing into the wall. When he got up to shake the stars from his eyes, he saw her sashaying into a side room to kneel down on the ground. He pounced after the bowl, but Shampoo twisted it out of his reach around her body. Twisting back in the opposite direction, Ranma-cat ended up pressed up to her back and half-curled over her shoulder.

Shampoo laughed and lifted the bowl closer to his face. Triumphant, Ranma chewed and swallowed the tasty fish. He ate leaning over her shoulder because it was closest to the bowl. Shampoo leaned back into his body and scratched her nails up and down his thigh. There may have been some squeezing. He didn't really care. The fish tasted good.

When the fish was gone, Shampoo tried to grab onto him and guide him deeper into the building, but he was done with her for now. He'd gotten his chases and fishes, and now he wanted other things that were not Shampoo things. Shaking off her grasping fingers and letting her jabbering flow over his head, he slipped around her legs, leapt over the fence again, and darted away down the street.

Several blocks later, he caught the scent of Akane outside a building and decided to investigate. Keeping low, he snuck into the building and past the people in front without their seeing him. Winding his way down hallways and past doors, he kept going until the scent of his almost-mate turned into the sight of her. Grumbling happily, he climbed up onto the table where she sat and sprawled himself in front of her with a purr.

"Ran into a cat again, huh Ranma?" Akane asked dryly as she tried to slide her paper and book out from underneath his body. He shifted to make it more difficult and then rubbed his face against her arm. "You're on my stuff," she complained. "How am I supposed to work now?" Ranma rolled onto his back in front of her, trapping one of her hands beneath his back, and presented his tummy to her front and center with a soulful look.

Down in the courtyard where his human awareness dangled helplessly, Ranma writhed in horror at the shamelessness of his cat side. _What was he _doing_? And how badly was Akane going to pound him for this?_

"You are ridiculous," Akane stated, making no move to rub his belly or hit him. His cat side was disappointed. Ranma was confused. Then Akane sneakily grabbed the edge of her book and yanked hard, sending Ranma's body sliding off the table and onto the floor at her feet with a startled yowl and hard thump.

A man came to the door mere seconds later. "You okay, Tendo-san? I heard a yell or something."

Akane kicked Ranma cat under the table and kept his struggling body down with her feet while she lied, "No, sorry, I didn't hear anything. I was lost in my reading."

"Oh okay, sorry to bother you," he said with a small blush. "If you do need anything, let me know."

"I will, thanks," Akane said, not letting on that she was wrestling a squirming Ranma to the ground with only her feet.

Tipping his hat, the man finally wandered away back down the hall.

As soon as the steely press of her feet relaxed, Ranma shrugged them off. He shook himself to remove the dust and feel of being restrained and huffed in annoyance. But Ranma-cat was nothing if not persistent, like Ranma himself. So he pushed his body between her legs and the table and leaned until her wheeled chair rolled backwards. When there was enough space to squeeze into the gap, he put his head on her knee, looked up, and meowed pitifully.

"Ridiculous," she proclaimed again, but then her lips quirked and she put her fingers in his fur and gave him good scratchies. Purring happily, Ranma half-closed his eyes, leaned harder into her lap, and then went boneless. Belly full and being petted by his favorite person, all was perfect in his world. On this thought, both of Ranma's sides were in perfect accord. Between one breath and the next, they drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Ranma woke up with the knowledge that he remembered being in the cat fist, even if he hadn't been in control. His excitement started to deflate a bit though, when his cynical side chimed in with, _Unless it was all wishful thinking or a dream_.

Grimacing at this depressing thought, Ranma opened his eyes and looked around. He was curled up on his side staring at a pair of very nicely muscled calves and trim ankles. Looking up, he confirmed that he was curled around Akane's feet. _Maybe I really do remember it_, he thought happily.

Akane was reading from some book with a very intent expression. She hadn't noticed him waking up, so he took the opportunity to simply drink in the features of her face. Suddenly, she gave a quick gasp and a little wrinkle appeared between her brows. She chewed on her lower lip for a second. Then she sighed, her face relaxed, and her eyes flicked up from the page, dreamy and unfocused. But a second later she looked down and intercepted his gaze.

"Oh," she said with a startled little jump. "You're awake."

"You make the most interesting faces when you read," Ranma observed drowsily.

Akane flushed, but replied, "And you're no longer a cat, so get up off the floor and dust yourself off, idiot." Standing up and stepping over his body, she began packing up her stuff.

Ranma stood up and stretched with a few popping joints and a contented grunt. On his way to the door, he snatched Akane's bag from her hands and slung it over his shoulder. "C'mon, let's get on home. It's almost dinnertime," he said.

As they ambled down the street together, something he rarely got to experience these days, Ranma sent Akane a look from the corner of his eye and asked casually, "So I didn't do nothin' embarrassing while I was a cat, did I?" He wanted to know her reaction to the shameless rubbing up against her legs and to how he'd all but forced her to pet his hair. Maybe he was an idiot for asking, but he had to know what she thought.

There were a few beats of silence. Then Akane replied, "Nah, nothing unusual."

_What does that mean!_ Ranma silently howled in frustration. _Did he always do shameless things like that in the cat fist, or was she just sparing his feelings because this was the first time he'd acted so weird? Or did none of that really happen and was it all a delusion?_

Before he could ask a follow-up question, she interrupted his chaotic thoughts, "Do you think we'll run into anymore winter-based martial arts this season?" This question side-tracked Ranma until they returned home to the Tendo Dojo and were welcomed home by Kasumi.

Unfortunately, they were also welcomed by both of their fathers chowing down on Chinese take-out brought by Shampoo. Who was still there. His comfortable conversation with Akane was shattered, and he spent the rest of the evening avoiding the octopus arms of Shampoo and the glares and cold shoulder from Akane.

For a few seconds he considered trying to ask Shampoo about how she saw him behave as a cat earlier, but if she mentioned how he'd draped himself over her body and let her feed him fish while she basically felt him up, Akane would mallet him all the way to Hokkaido. He'd be in casts and full-body bandages for a week! As it was, the insinuations she'd already made were causing Ranma to consider staying up all night just in case he went to sleep and somehow never woke up.

Besides, if Shampoo didn't mention anything that he thought he remembered, it would make him think he was crazy. Ranma didn't want to be any crazier than he already was. He couldn't take it right now. Maybe next week.

* * *

Unfortunately, it seemed that Shampoo's visit heralded the start of several weeks of barely seeing or talking to Akane. It was worse than before! Some days, he didn't even get to see her for one meal. Ranma wouldn't say he felt lost without the constant companionship of Akane. The winter season itself was just making him feel bored and unenthusiastic with life. He was sure he'd get over it soon.

He'd just fallen into a funk for some reason, but at least his relationship with the cat fist seemed to be improving. In addition to maybe actually remembering what he was doing during the cat fist, which he hadn't admitted to anyone yet since he still couldn't control what he was doing and still wasn't 100% sure he wasn't delusional, Ranma had started having weird cat fist dreams too.

He didn't fully trust them, because they _were_ dreams, but it was possible that he was remembering previous episodes of the cat fist while he slept. As time went on, he had more feline dreams, and suspected more and more that the memories really were returning, and that it had something to do with what had happened when he reestablished his bond with Akane in Okinawa. But always a fear lurked in the back of his mind that he was just fooling himself. He might be going mad. Nothing good and nice ever just fell into his lap. There had to be some sort of catch.

More challenges came and went. Winter flopped fully down onto Nerima with several snow storms and one full-fledged blizzard. Happosai sent a post card from the tropics and promised to visit at the end of March. Pops and Mr. Tendo made plans to be out of town when he visited. Ranma had several more cat fist episodes where he seemed to be aware but not in charge, but he still hadn't mentioned the changes to anyone, and none of his hints after the fact worked to get anyone to confirm what he thought he was remembering.

During a casual cleaning of his room suggested by Kasumi with a truly scary smile, Ranma ran across some old photos left by Nabiki. As he flipped through pictures of himself from the past few years fighting in various challenges, he also found a few of himself in the cat fist. An excited tingle went down his spine when he noticed that some of his dreams matched up to the photos taken by Nabiki.

_Maybe they weren't dreams, but really memories after all_. _This could be proof that I'm not crazy! _However, he needed to get independent verification that he was remembering his current and past actions in the cat fist. The dreams could still be just wishful thinking. After all, he'd probably glanced at these photos before. Maybe he was making up stories based on these pictures, instead of the other way around.

Ranma didn't know the best way to test his memory. He suspected that any plan would require deliberately exposing himself to a cat and having a witness nearby to record events, so his strategizing had stalled. Ranma hated the paralyzing fear and loss of control that came with the cat-fist. It wasn't manly. It was embarrassing. Getting to know his cat side and trying to accept it had helped a little bit, but the fear of cats was still there. Years of trauma and experience couldn't be forgotten just like that.

* * *

One day, Ranma realized that two, almost three months had gone by since he'd returned from his trip to learn Martial Arts Geometry in Okinawa. Somehow he hadn't realized so much time was passing. However, now that he did know, his delaying behavior was veering quickly into cowardice, and Ranma Saotome was no one's coward. Finally he concluded that the only person he could trust with this was Akane.

A new semester was in full swing and Akane's stupid committee thing was _**finally over**_. Akane was hanging around the house a lot more now. She'd started seeking him out at lunch and after school again too. The last few weeks, Ranma's mood had drastically improved. He refused to think about it too much, for fear he'd find something else to mope about. Not that he'd been moping before or anything.

Whatever the case, Ranma had decided that it was time for a new grand plan. He was a genius! He could fix his relationship with Akane and get Akane to help him with the cat fist at the same time. He hoped that this would kill two birds with one stone, and let him figure out the changes in the cat fist and Akane's true feelings. Then Ranma could get their relationship back on track to where he wanted it to be.

Last night, she'd let him lean against her legs again while she sat at her desk and they'd both worked on their math homework. Her reaction to his cat side had given him a little more courage when it came to touching. Or at least his assumption of the reality of her reaction if he wasn't really crazy and hallucinating. But whatever the case, so far, Akane responded well to him leaning against her as long as he didn't make a big deal of it. He also noticed that when he let his fingertips 'accidentally' glance along her forearm or leg, she'd give the most delightful shiver. This required further investigation.

His grades in geometry were awesome this semester, due mostly to his intensive study of the bond between him and Akane. He kept trying to find a formula that would help him bounce his energy quickly enough to get a look at whatever he felt occasionally spying on his bond with Akane. So far, however, nothing had worked. It hadn't let him read her thoughts either, which had been a faint hope. If he could read her thoughts, he might be able to actually understand her crazy female behavior.

The time was perfect because Ranma had just finished dealing with the tournament of martial arts dough making. That kid with the solar hands had made delicious-looking and smelling loaves of fluffy French bread, so it was probably lucky that the judge had been a surly Japanese Grandmother suspicious of western foods. Ranma's buns had looked amazing though, so he was sure he would have won if they hadn't cancelled the contest due to property damage and the judge falling into a food coma from eating too many carbohydrates and a pat of cursed butter. He still maintained that it was a mere coincidence that the dog who'd stolen his buns had vomited them back up less than a minute later, no matter what Akane claimed.

Yes, it was the perfect time to tackle the challenge of his memories of the cat-fist. Performing 50 slow pinky handstand pushups to work out his nervousness, Ranma stood up, cracked his neck on both sides, and went upstairs to Akane's room. He flicked the yellow duck on Akane's door with a fingernail nervously, making it sway. Then, taking a deep breath, he gave the door a decisive knock.

"Come in," Akane's voice called out after a few seconds.

After opening the door, Ranma folded his hands behind his back tightly to hide his nervousness and slouched against the doorframe. "Hey Akane, do you have a minute?" he asked as casually as possible.

Akane was at her desk looking intently down at her book and chewing on the end of her pencil. "Jush le' me finish thi'," she garbled around the pencil in her mouth before tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, taking the pencil out of her mouth, and writing something down furiously. Her scrunched brow and intense focus were adorable, he thought with a fond smile.

"There, what can I help…" her voice trailed off as she looked up at Ranma slouching in the doorway, blinked, and blushed, "you with?" she finished a trifle breathlessly before clearing her throat and closing her book.

Hmm, that was an interesting reaction, Ranma thought smugly. He'd have to slouch against walls around Akane more often if it made her stutter like that.

Clearing her throat, Akane asked, "Did you need to borrow my History book again? I just finished with it."

"Oh, well, yes actually, but…" he trailed off. "I actually was wondering if I could get your help and advice on something else," he paused again but forced himself to spit out, "not History, personal." His hand drifted up to scratch the back of his neck sheepishly.

A surprised smile bloomed on Akane's face as she turned fully to face him. "Of course Ranma, come on in and shut the door, if you need to."

After nudging the door shut with his foot, Ranma went and sat on the end of Akane's bed. Reminding himself that this was just Akane, that she knew as much about the cat fist as anyone else in his life, and probably more than anyone but his pops, Ranma tried to stop the nervous fiddling of his fingers and gurgling of his stomach. Akane leaned forward and gave him her full attention. The gurgling disappeared, but butterflies took its place. It was a bit heady to be the center of her focus, to tell the truth.

"So, you know how in the cat fist I don't ever remember what I did when I wake up?" Ranma asked. When Akane nodded her head, Ranma continued, "Well, ever since we got back from Okinawa, I've been having these dreams where I'm in the cat fist and…," he paused, swallowed, and then blurted out, "I think my dreams might be memories."

Akane sat back in surprise, and said, "You're dreaming about the cat fist too? That's odd."

"Yeah, dreams about the cat fist," Ranma confirmed, too focused on getting out his explanation to really pay attention to what she was saying. "I might just be making it up based on things people have said and pictures Nabiki took, because some of the dreams match what's happening in some of the pictures I got off of Kuno last year," Ranma rushed through his explanation, barely stopping to breathe.

"So I'm not sure if its real or I'm just making it up. You were there for most of those things, though, so I was wondering if I could tell you some of my dreams, and you could tell me if they are true or not, since I trust you to be honest with me, Akane." Ranma blushed and looked away from her eyes, not meaning to say the last part of that sentence out loud.

"Of course I'll be honest with you, Ranma. You know you can talk to me about any of your dreams and I won't mock you. Not about something this serious. You can trust me with anything," she said earnestly, leaning forward and laying a gentle hand over his clenched fists.

Relaxing his hands, he turned his wrist and gave her fingers a small squeeze before letting them slide away so she could sit back. "Okay, here goes." He took a breath and began, "In one of them, I'm up in a tree watching you practice in the dojo," he paused to picture the scene more clearly. "I think about catching one of the black birds flying by, or trying to fish out one of the koi swimming below, but instead I find something I want more, so I decide to jump down and," he stuttered to a halt, "I mean I get distracted, so I jump down and go over to the dojo where you are practicing. You're doing something with your fingers and hands using a flashlight and some curtains and other stuff I don't understand as a cat. I rub up against your legs until you stop practicing and give me your attention. You flick my braid out of my face and rub my shoulder, and then I follow you to the pond, where you splash some cold water on me. It turns me into a girl and I wake up."

Akane and Ranma were both sporting blushes by the end of his story, but Akane still met his eyes when she said, "Yes, that happened a few weeks before we went to Okinawa. I was practicing a combination of Martial Arts Shadow Puppetry and Martial Arts Gymnastics."

Ranma got distracted for a second, "You figured out how to combine those two? What kind of strengths does combining them give you verses using them separate?"

"Focus Ranma," Akane scolded, "I can show you later. Do you realize you just repeated a real cat fist memory? Tell me another one. We need more proof."

"Right, okay," he said, shaking the tension out of his shoulders. Pulling out a handful of photos, he pointed at those he now thought he remembered. As he described the associated memories, Akane was able to corroborate almost all of them. The only ones she couldn't were ones where he'd been chased away from her so she hadn't been there to personally witness the events. Since that seemed to be the case, he decided to stop mentioning the dreams involving Shampoo, since it just seemed to make Akane tighten her teeth into an annoyed grind and repeat, "The Chinese hussy was alone with you for that one, too."

He probably should never mention his recent excursion where he'd hung over Shampoo's back while she fed him fish and run her nails up and down his thigh. At the time, he'd thought himself a cat, so he hadn't really cared about the position, and her nails had scratched an itch on his knee so he could focus on grabbing the fish with his teeth. But remembering the events as a human took on a very different connotation and made his face flame. If Akane ever found out about that, she'd stomp him into jelly.

"Those are the last of my pictures, though I've had a few more dreams," Ranma said. He started to describe one of them when Akane got a thoughtful look in her eyes, stood up abruptly, and went over to her closet. Crouching down, she pulled out a shoebox and rifled through it until she had a handful of photos. Bringing them over, Ranma realized that they were all pictures of him in the cat fist with Akane.

They were touching a lot in all of the pictures. Somehow, that seemed important. A light blush graced Akane's cheeks. "Nabiki gave these to me before she left for college," Akane mumbled.

Flipping through them carefully, Ranma felt his face also start to heat. Some of them seemed familiar, but why had he been laying on his back across Akane's lap? Or pushing food into her face with his mouth? He really was shameless as a cat. Sorting out the ones that he thought he recognized, Ranma explained what he could to Akane.

When he finished with the last thing he remembered dreaming (that he was willing to admit in front of Akane), he looked at her hopefully. "So that's it. You really remember all of those things happening, right?" he confirmed.

"I said I did, didn't I? Ranma, this is wonderful." They shared smiles. "Do you think you'll know what you are doing during the cat fist now?" she asked.

"Well," Ranma said slowly, "now that you mention it, the last few months I've been sorta aware during the cat fist."

"What do you mean?" Akane asked. "Like, you're in control of the cat fist now?"

Ranma shook his head. "No, I'm just a passive observer while my cat side is in charge. I don't have any control. But I think I've been awake during it, and I think I remember what my cat side did as soon as I come back to myself." He gave a bitter smile and added, "That is, if I'm not going even more crazy."

"Oh Ranma," Akane said sympathetically. "Don't worry. Considering how crazy you already are, I don't think there's room for you to get any worse."

For a minute Ranma looked at her in disbelief, before her serious face crumbled into giggles. Despite himself, Ranma found himself laughing along. It was a good release of tension, undoing a knot in his back he hadn't even noticed.

"You're such a jerk," he mock complained. "Where is all that stereotypical comforting woman are supposed to be so good at?"

"Well," Akane added, "how about this. Ready?" she waited for Ranma to meet her eyes. "Into ever life, a little rain must fall."

"Seriously, that's it?" he asked with a suppressed smile.

"Yes. Now, don't you feel better?" she asked with an impish grin.

"Oh yes, tons, thank you," Ranma replied sarcastically. But he realized a moment later that it had really been the truth.

"So," Ranma continued, "I was hoping you could maybe help me test the cat fist? I mean, we don't need to go out and find a cat now, or even any time soon. But if at some point, later, we maybe could get a cat and test my response and memory… if I ever feel like it." Ranma ignored Akane's twitching lips. "Sometime _later_," he reiterated. Sure he needed to test it, but he still dreaded that part and wanted to delay it for as long as possible.

Akane looked him over shrewdly, "Waiting isn't going to make this easier, Ranma. It's just going to make it worse," she said. "We need to test this now before you talk yourself out of it. Let's just go down to the dojo and get it over with."

"But Akane," Ranma whined.

"No," she interrupted him. "You came to me because you trust me, so trust me now to help you. I know you, and you need to get this over with now, not have it hanging over your head. Otherwise, something else will come up in your crazy life and you'll just keep pushing this to the bottom of your to-do list so you can deal with the current crisis. Then we won't get to it until something really bad happens, or we'll be trying to figure it out while getting dropped into a pit of hungry cheetahs or something."

Ranma shuddered and went a little pale. "Not fair," he complained.

"But true," she replied with a smirk. "So here's what we'll do. You'll go out to the dojo to wait for me. I'll go borrow the neighbor's cat and bring it over."

"Hey," Ranma stood up with a jitter, "when did the neighbors get a cat? And which neighbor?"

Akane stood up and patted his shoulder, "Don't worry about it. They know about your situation and keep it under control."

"What do you mean they know? Who told them? Did you-," Ranma turned his face away angrily and pouted as he sat back down onto the end of her bed.

"Ranma," Akane said sternly, "you're not getting out of this, you can't distract me that easily, and it doesn't really matter. We can talk about all of our different neighbors' pets later, though for your information it was Kasumi who told the owners of the cat to keep it away from our house. Now go wait in the dojo. Please."

When Ranma remained silent, Akane's stern features softened. Getting up from her chair gracefully, she stepped to his side. Then she placed two fingers under his chin and gently turned him back to face her. "It'll be fine. I promise I'll be there the whole time. I won't let it get too bad. You _can_ trust me, Ranma," Akane slid her fingers down the edge of his jaw, and then ran her thumb up and down the column of his throat once soothingly before stepping back, looking to the side with a slight blush as she cleared her throat. "I just want to help," she said softly.

Looking up into her pink face, Ranma swallowed and nodded once carefully. His pulse had kicked up at her touch. "I know, Akane. I do trust you. It's just… ca-cats, you know?" He looked down for a second and let out a slow breath.

Then, looking back up at her through his eyelashes, Ranma quirked his lips in a roguish smile, "Hey Akane, I have a great idea. Why don't I go and wait for you in the dojo?"

Grinning, Akane pointed her finger at him and said, "What a great idea, Ranma! Why don't you bring a bucket of cold water and the hot kettle with you, and I'll see you there in a few minutes."

TO BE CONTINUED

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AN: Thanks for reading, and for your great comments, ideas, and corrections! I'm moving next week, so the next chapter might be a tic slow too, but I'll do my best. I'm going to have a washer/dryer in my apartment for the first time in 7.5 years, which means no more Laundromat. SO EXCITED! Laundromats eat socks and underwear and give you other people's socks that you don't want and that won't fit you. Hopefully you are all having something good happen right now too.


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